Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The Sixth Gundam
by Prayer Reverie
Summary: COMPLETED! Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny’s confirmation. [CHAPTER 10 Now Finished!]
1. Chapter 1: The Sixth Gundam

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish)._

P.S: If anyone knows how to get proper indents on the QuickEdit function of , please enlighten me. Thank you.

_

* * *

_Chapter 1: Heliopolis and the Slayer. 

C.E. 71, January 25th.

Explosions rocked the colony as ZAFT mobile suits fought against a lone Earth Alliance mobile suit and a new battleship. Ian Temk, a resident of Heliopolis, was terrified. Conflict seemed to follow him, so he and his remaining family moved to Heliopolis for refuge.

But now he didn't know where his parents were, and his younger sister had disappeared before they had moved. Random missiles fired from the defense units destroyed sections of surrounding areas, mostly the residential areas.

A large beam of green light struck the colony a few hundred meters away and the resulting shockwave threw Ian into a newly formed crevasse. Badly bruised, he picked himself off the floor and looked around for a way out.

"I can't seen high enough, if only there was a ladder or some rope in here." He muttered to himself. Starting to search, he bumped into something metal. And it was a large something.  
Shrugging to himself, he climbed up to get a better look. He still wasn't high enough to see, but that became the least of his worries. The main support finally collapsed under the intense barrage and the colony began to split apart.

The rushing air propelled him backwards and into a seat of some kind.

"What is this, a one-man lifeboat?" he wondered aloud. Grasping around blindly in the dark, his hands finally came upon several switches which he promptly flicked.

Power was fed into the cockpit, and several systems started up.

"Finally some good news!" he exclaimed.

The hatch in front of him sealed shut and a monitor slid down and sprang to life.

"GAT X-209 G.U.N.D.A.M. Slayer" he read.

His view screens came to life next, showing him the outside world, or what was left of it. The section he was in was floating around, projected from the force of the collapse.

The monitor replaced the readout with the weapons loadout.

"Dual rail guns, hip mounted; "Trikeros Mk. II Offense/Defense Shield system, a beam saber, beam rifle and 6 220mm missiles, all mounted on left arm; shot-lancer mounted on right arm; dual CIWS head Vulcans" as he read off his weapons, a sub-monitor flashed to life with more readings.

"Special features: Phase shift, Mirage Colloid, sensor deflecting armor, and extra high-capacity energy batteries."

Ian was quite amazed at his find. Granted he didn't know exactly how to pilot a mobile suit, but he was determined to learn, if only to seek revenge for his family and friends.

"Alright Slayer, show me what you're capable of." He said starting the main systems and activating the Phase shift. Immediately the Gundam gained a deep black color to its hull, denoting the activation of the Phase shift feature.

Ian managed to get the machine standing upright, then fired the thrusters and left the piece of wreckage. He didn't go far before finding out that whomever had programmed this machine had done a really bad job.

"Aw crap, controls aren't responsive at all. Damn Alliance, can't even create a good operating system for their mobile suits." So he sat in space for over 30 minutes, reprogramming the OS nearly from scratch to suit his needs.

He just finished when his sensors started to beep urgently, alerting him to incoming crafts. Looking up, he swiveled around until he spotted the units. It was one CGUE flanked by two GINNS, one on either side of the commander suit.

He opened a channel to the incoming suits.

"Attention ZAFT suits, I am Ian Temk, new pilot of this suit. May I be of assistance?" he inquired politely.

"_Mister Temk, I am Commander Fanel of the Fanel Squadron. Perhaps we may be of assistance to you?_" came the immediate reply.

"I just escaped the destruction of Heliopolis, and this suit needs a bit calibrations before its combat ready. Perhaps if you allowed me onboard one of your ships?"

"_We would be honored to have you aboard the _Prometheus_, our flagship. Follow us, we'll keep a steady pace._" Replied Fanel.

"Thank you Commander." Ian didn't have much of a choice. If the Naturals found him, they might try to kill him and re-take their Gundam. After all, Coordinators should stick together. He fired the thrusters again and tested the new control system.

"Works much better now, but still needs work. Guess I'll have plenty of time on the _Prometheus_."

The four mobile suits rendezvoused with the rest of the Fanel squadron. Ian whistled at the display of power before him. The _Prometheus_ was a _Nazca II_-class prototype high speed destroyer, and escorting the new ship were two _Laurasia_-class Light Frigates.

Each of the frigates could hold 6 Mobile Suits, GINN, CGUE or otherwise. The _Prometheus_ was rumored to have the capacity to carry 8 suits on its own. The _Nazca II_-class ships were being tested all over the system, perhaps to replace the aging, yet still effective, light frigates.

"_Mister Temk, follow me in if you please. The deck officer will direct you._" Transmitted Fanel.

"Thank you Commander. I'm on my way." He managed to dock safely, and once secured he shut down all of the systems. The monitor slid up and locked with a click, and then Ian opened the cockpit hatch. Fresh air and warm light flooded in, reminding Ian of Heliopolis. Stepping out of the cockpit, he drifted slowly down towards the deck.

Commander Fanel and several other people were waiting for him.

"Thank you for having me Commander, I am Ian Temk, formerly of Heliopolis." He introduced himself again.

"It is our honor. I am Commander Steven Fanel; this is Captain Norima Hashagowa and our resident ace, Lieutenant Diane Madu." He pointed at the captain of the _Prometheus_ and a beautiful yet young girl.

"Leah?" he asked.

* * *

Authors Notes: Yay! My first chapter of my first fanfic done! Please R & R, I love constructive criticism, but try not to flame please. 

Next Chapter: Who is Leah and what does this have to do with Diane? Uh-oh, is that an Alliance fleet?


	2. Chapter 2: Prometheus attacks!

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish)._

* * *

A/N: **_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl_** thanks for the review and the info, but I knew about the rest of the Gundams. Yeah, Fanel was from Escaflowne, I read the mange before starting this and ran out of original names.

Chapter 2: _Prometheus_ attacks!

C.E. 71, January 25th.

"Leah?" he asked.

"My name is Diane Madu." corrected Diane.

"Sorry, my mistake, you look a lot like my younger sister Leah." He apologized.

"Diane here pilots another CGUE and leads the squads when I'm away. She's very talented for her age." said Steve.

"Now where on Heliopolis did you find that suit?" asked Diane, pointing at the shut down Slayer Gundam.

"Near Factory 37S, it was built by OMNI as far as I can tell. But the OS sucks a crap-load of crap, and I was trying to reprogram when Commander Fanel found me." replied Ian.

Ian went over the specifications he found, and the three ZAFT Coordinators exchanged worried looks.

"Mirage Colloid and beam weapons? The Earth Alliance has been busy in the past while. But we receive a comm transmission from Commander Crueset before you came back, and apparently five more units were developed and we managed to steal four of them." said Captain Hashagowa.

"Well I suppose I make the sixth."

-

January 30th

With one of the support teams helping Ian, the Slayer Gundam was reprogrammed, analyzed and finally ready for combat. Ian agreed to hand over a copy of all the data stored inside the Slayer's computers.

Most the _Prometheus'_ crew accepted Ian as one of their own; after all he was a Coordinator. Ian joined up with the ZAFT forces, deciding to get revenge on the Earth Alliance for building the Gundams and destroying Heliopolis.

As a newly minted Private in the ZAFT forces, he was assigned as Diane's wingman and sent on his first patrol mission.

Diane equipped her CGUE with an M7070 shield system and an M68 "Cattus" 500mm recoilless rifle. Her CGUE was painted in a white hue with forest green on the torso, forearms and lower legs.

Ian didn't have much choice to customize the load out on the Slayer; it was arranged for melee combat or stealth missions. The shot lancer, as he found out, was a good way to disable units without destroying them or using power from his battery packs. The downside was that it is a short range weapon, but being able to sneak up on an enemy and take him out without an explosion to alert anyone else was nice.

They were at the halfway point of their patrol and turned back to complete their mission.

"So how is it you joined the ZAFT forces at such an early age?" he asked.

"After the Junius 7 attack, I knew it was my duty to defend PLANT in any way I could. I did very well on the mobile suit aptitude test, and after the Academy I was assigned to the newly built _Prometheus_ to help with tests and such."

"So then how old are you? I get the feeling that not many of the pilots are older than I am." inquired Ian while flying close to Diane.

"I'm turning 17 next month. I've heard that the pilots on the Crueset team range from 15 to 17. As second generation Coordinators it seems there is some 'natural' piloting ability inherent in all of us." answered Diane.

"Wow, that really makes me feel old, and I'm only 20. Well it's sort of good to see young people with jobs these days." He joked.

Diane laughed at that, but her sensor alarms started beeping wildly.

"Sensors are picking up several ships approximately 2000 meters away, it looks like an Earth Alliance task force in attack formation." She reported.

"Aw crap, they got this close without alerting anyone? They seem to have built themselves around the _Agamemnon­_-class cruiser in the center." said Ian, checking his own sensors.

"We've got to report to Captain Hashagowa and Commander Fanel!"

"Calm down, you head back to the _Prometheus_ and I'll stay here and distract them." He said.

"I am your ranking officer on this mission, what gives you the right to order me around?" she demanded hotly.

"Slayer can cloak and slip past the outer ships, your CGUE can't. I've got backup battery power, you don't. Now go!" he replied, and then throttled up towards the fleet, activating his Mirage Colloid.

"Damn rookie." She cursed before acknowledging his 'orders' and turning back to inform the Captain.

_If I keep my Phase shift deactivated until the last second I can conserve my power when I really need it. The shot lancer can take out the bridges of those ships, so all I have to worry about are their mobile armors _he planned.

He confirmed that Diane was out of range and then started his attack run.

"Damn Naturals! How dare you try to destroy us?!" he screamed while charging towards the first 250 meter ship he saw.

The bridge crew saw the stars in one area shimmer but paid it no attention. The last thing they knew was the shot lancer being fired through the bridge. Ian tore the lancer out of the destroyed bridge and flew towards a 130 meter ship. Targeting the bridge again, Ian positioned himself so the lancer would penetrate from the top, rather than in front. There was always a chance the double-barreled Vulcan turret could find his Gundam.

The ship passed under him and when the time was right, Ian fired the shot lancer through the bridge and then flew away. With two of their vessels disabled, the Alliance task force began to deploy their Moebius mobile armors.

"Crap, surprise attack is over, it's time to fight the old fashioned way." He said.

Disabling one more 130 meter ship, he finally activated his Phase shift armor and armed his other weapons. With his suit now visible, the remaining ships turned to gain a lock with their primary weapons.

Ian flashed the Gundam's eyes, to goad the fleet. In response two of the 250 meter ships fired their Gottfried heavy beam cannons. Ian quickly evaded the incoming beams then throttled up towards a group of Moebius'. Firing his head Vulcan's to distract them, Ian fired twice, destroying one and sending the other spinning off wildly.

Four wire-guided missiles were loosed from the armors with Ian as their target. As much skill as he had with piloting, this was still his first combat mission. The battle-hardened pilot corps of the Earth Alliance could easily tear him apart.

Fortunately for Ian, the Slayer Gundam was more powerful than your average CGUE. Firing his thrusters to move away from the grouping of mobile armors, Ian chose his next target, the _Agamemnon_ cruiser. Arming three of his six missiles, he fired them at another 250 meter ship, doing little damage at all.

Ian activated his beam saber and rushed in close to the main ship. Coming to a dead stop right in front of the bridge, Ian flashed the Gundam's eyes again then swiped the saber up through the bridge, destroying it completely. The cruiser started to veer off course and slid across the top of a 130 meter ship, damaging both capital ships severely.

Finally the Moebius' got together and launched a coordinated assault on Ian. Dozens of missiles were sent flying towards him followed by linear rifle projectiles.

"Holy crap!" he said, pulling up and pushing the Gundam to full speed. He armed and fired his three remaining missiles and they detonated against several other missiles.

In the resulting confusion Ian dropped below the explosion and activated his Mirage Colloid to hopefully escape. He took it slow, keeping all unessential systems on standby or deactivated to conserve power and reduce electronic emissions.

The remaining capital ships and mobile armors spread out in a vain attempt to locate their prey. Calling up his star-chart, Ian surveyed the area he was in, and found a small area of debris to confound his pursuers even more.

He rotated to face his destination, but his proximity alarm went off, alerting him to incoming forces. Looking up, he expected to see Moebius' bearing down on him.

"What the? The _Prometheus_?" he asked in a surprised voice.

The _Prometheus_ and her escorts had arrived and launched all of their GINNs and CGUEs. The battle was over very quickly. Six of the GINN were armed with M69 "Barrus" heavy ion cannons and M68 "Pardeus" 3-barrel missile launchers or M66 "Canus" short-range guided missile launchers and the Pardeus launchers.

The rest had MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machine guns or M68 "Cattus" 500mm recoilless rifles to deal with the Moebius forces. Seeing it was safe to come out, Ian re-activated his Phase shift and flew at full speed to meet up with his saviours.

"Good job on the save _Prometheus_!" he said, congratulation the squadron on their victory.

"_Ian you little idiot! I'm going to have you court-martialed! Ordering a superior officer and attacking a fleet without orders!_" said a very angry Diane.

"Nice to see you too Diane." He replied, holding his laughter in.

"_Good job on distracting the fleet Ian. We may not have enjoyed the luxury of preparing for their attack if not for you._" said Commander Fanel.

"Just doing my duty. X209 Slayer Gundam requesting permission to land on _Prometheus_." He replied.

"_X209 Slayer, you are cleared to land. Welcome back._" came the controller's voice.

Ian smiled as he brought his Gundam in for a landing inside the hangar bay. His first mission a complete success and he got combat experience.

* * *

A/N: Second chapter done, and some questions answered. Sort of. Whatever. Please R & R always. Next chapter coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3: Orders

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish).

* * *

_**_DreamAnimeKitten:_** You don't have to wait for long.  
**_Tenryu:_** I know about the 3 Astray Gundams, but those were built by Orb, not the Earth Alliance, besides who wouldn't want a Coordinator with a Gundam?  
**_Xaeta Alexin:_** Sounds cool, the Slayer Super Deformed version. Let me know.  
**_RVD:_** Sure he may have been a neutral citizen, but that was to get away from war.

* * *

Chapter 3: Orders

C.E. 71, February 4th

After his first combat mission, Ian decided to apply for some training. The _Prometheus_ featured several training simulators, and with the help of a few technicians, he installed some software and data from his Slayer. Over the next few days he participated in two more patrol missions, both were uneventful and quiet.

He also spent most of his free time learning how to properly control his powerful mobile suit. Several pilots joined him and together they trained in larger 'missions'. Ian finally felt confident enough to battle again and properly use all of the Slayer's abilities.

Ian, Diane and two other pilots were relaxing in the pilot's lounge when Commander Fanel and Captain Hashagowa entered.

"Officer on deck!" announced on of the pilots.

"As you were." said Hashagawa.

"We have received another transmission from Commander Le Creuset. We are to join up with the _Vesalius_ and the _Gamow_ as soon as possible." started Fanel.

"What about the _Tritonen_ and _Verbatim_?" asked the second pilot.

"They will join up with another _Nazca_-class destroyer to make up for its recent losses." answered Hashagowa.

"Why are we joining up? I thought our mission was to test the _Nazca II_-class." asked Diane.

"Chairman Clyne and the Council have decided that the best way to test the _Prometheus_ is in battle with another group. That and the fact we have found another Gundam. Although the honorable Chairman doesn't want to 'put all his eggs in one basket' he figures that 5 Gundam units together may end the war sooner that anyone thought." replied Hashagowa.

"Then let's get to it!" said Ian eagerly.

* * *

C.E. 71, February 5th

Two ZAFT ships hung in space, waiting outside the debris belt. Rumors of an Earth Alliance taskforce running around destroying lone ZAFT ships were everywhere. The _Gamow_ with Duel, Buster and Blitz was on its way, but until then it was up to Aegis and Slayer to engage the rampaging Earth Alliance ships.

"Why are we waiting here when there may be survivors in there?!" demanded Athrun Zala, pilot of the X303 Aegis Gundam.

"Beats me, but I'd rather suit up and hunt those ships down now than wait for the rest of your team." replied Ian.

Athrun snarled in frustration and slammed his fist down on the table. Ian was a little surprised at the Athrun's attitude. The young pilot was known to be a competent and cool-headed pilot even under pressure.

"I can't take sitting here anymore so I'm going to get some time in the simulators. Want to join me?" he offered to Athrun.

"No." the blue haired pilot growled out.

Ian shrugged then got up and left Athrun to his own thoughts. Whistling a tune he didn't pay too much attention as he walked, and when turned a corner he slammed right into Diane.

"Ouch, sorry about that." said Ian, holding his head in pain.

"I think it was my fault." she said hazily.

Ian got up first and then helped Diane up.

"So where were you heading?" he asked her.

"Actually I was trying to find you. Mission Orders from Commander Creuset." she said, picking up a folder that she dropped.

Taking the offered folder, he leafed through the sheets. He finally looked up.

"Well, it should make Athrun happy at the very least." he said, smiling faintly.

"Athrun?" she asked politely.

"Ah, he's been all up ons since he learned about the _Silverwind's_ disappearance. Now that we're near the Debris Belt, he figures we should go mount a search and rescue mission, but Commander Le Creuset denied it." he explained.

"Well these should boost his spirit a bit, but I have to get back to the bridge. I'll see you afterwards maybe?"

"For sure!" he said, flashing a grin then running off to find Athrun.

After finding the other pilot and informing him of their mission, Ian asked what was located inside the Debris Belt that had everyone on edge.

"Lacus Clyne, the daughter of Chairman Siegel Clyne disappeared a few days ago. Her ship, the _Silverwind_, has not been heard from, and we dispatched a Long Range Recon GINN to search for them, but so far nothing." said Athrun.

"That can't be the entire reason, why would the Council assemble 5 Gundams in one place?" Ian asked.

"Well, there is the _Archangel_." admitted Athrun.

"The who?"

"Earth's new mobile assault battleship, capable of carrying mobile suits and designed to carry the Gundams. The ship, whatever is left of its crew and the Strike Gundam escaped the destruction of Heliopolis and they were recently tracked down to the Debris belt but they may not be here anymore." Athrun explained.

Ian's fists tightened in anger at the mention of the Earth Alliance at Heliopolis.

"So they're the reason that my home is gone." he said angrily.

Athrun merely looked down at the deck plating, saying nothing.

* * *

C.E. 71, February 6th

"Sir, communications has picked up an encoded Earth Alliance pulse. It seems it's from the advance element of the 8th Fleet." reported the communications officer.

"Well then, it seems our 'rampaging' ships are from Rear Admiral Halberton. Inform Commander Creuset and Captain Ades on the _Vesalius_." ordered Captain Hashagowa.

Fanel opened a line to the pilot's ready room.

"We've located the advance element of the Alliance's 8th Fleet. The _Vesalius_ is being informed now, but I believe that we'll go into battle. Prepare your suits and standby for action." he said. The pilots on the other end saluted and ran off.

"Incoming transmission from _Vesalius_ sir."

"_Captain, Commander, alert your pilots for standby. We'll launch and destroy the ships before they can rendezvous with the rest of their fleet. Ian and Athrun will launch from here._" said Rau Le Creuset.

"Aye sir."

The communications screen went dead and Fanel commed the pilots again, relaying the orders.

* * *

Ian and Athrun floated in their suits, waiting for the signal to attack.

"So does this suit you more Athrun?" Ian asked.

"Well, it's not quite a rescue mission, but at least we're doing something." he replied.

"Although it may be overkill with our current force, two destroyers, two Gundams and three GINNs, all for an advance Earth Alliance force." he continued.

"Better safe than sorry." Ian quoted.

"_All mobile suits, incoming Earth Alliance warships detected. Engage in designated teams. Good luck._" Said Le Creuset.

The three GINNs accelerated at an angle away from Ian and Athrun. Ian cloaked and followed Athrun in towards the now-engaged GINNs and Moebius'.

"_We'll take the second _130 meter_-class ship while the GINNs take the other one._" said Athrun.

"Roger that."

Ian caught clips of Earth Alliance transmissions, but it was too garbled to make sense. Meanwhile the GINNs were rapidly taking the escort ship _Law_ apart. It wouldn't last long against the sustained fire.

Athrun transformed the Aegis into its mobile armor form and armed his 580mm "Scylla" multi-phase energy cannon. He targeted the other escort ship, the _Bernard_. Athrun fired and the beam tore through the ship, the reactor went critical and the ship exploded.

"_One down, two to go._" Athrun said.

The GINNs finally destroyed the _Law_, and moved towards the _Montgomery_, a 250 meter class ship. They took the same approach, circling the ship, attacking the turrets and any remaining Moebius mobile armors.

"Athrun, incoming Earth Alliance mobile suit and mobile armor." Ian reported.

"_What? From where?_"

"It's the X105 Strike Gundam and something called the Moebius Zero." Ian said.

"Kira ..." mumbled Athrun.

_Huh? Is Athrun talking to himself now?_ Ian asked himself.

Strike fired at Athrun, but the ZAFT pilot dodged and fired back. The Zero flew towards the three GINNs and began his attack on them. Ian cloaked and started to move in towards Strike, hoping to disable the Gundam.

A random shot from the damaged _Montgomery_ hit Athrun, doing no damage but it stunned him momentarily. The pilot of Strike aimed at Aegis' head, when Ian uncloaked and charged at Strike.

The Earth Alliance pilot turned in surprise, and then Ian activated his beam saber and sliced through ... the beam rifle? Strike managed to dodge the assault and drew his own beam saber in response.

Athrun finally recovered and drew his own beam saber as well. Pushing his thrusters to full capacity, he intercepted Strike's thrust and parried it away.

"_Ian, help the GINNs._" Athrun said his voiced rose in anger.

"Roger that, I'm on my way." Ian turned and left Aegis and Strike to duel it out.

As Strike and Aegis dueled, the _Vesalius_ fired its Gottfried heavy cannons at the _Montgomery_, destroying it in a large explosion. Then his communications board came alive with activity.

"_All ZAFT forces, this is Ensign Badgiruel of the Earth Alliance battleship _Archangel_. We are currently holding Lacus Clyne, daughter of Siegel Clyne, aboard our ship. If hostilities persist we cannot guarantee her safety._" said a strong female voice.

"_Kira! Is this your sense of justice, fighting along side with these cowards!?_" Athrun demanded over the same channel.

"_Athrun ..._" came a timid reply.

"_All forces, return at once._" ordered Creuset.

"_I'll rescue her, by myself if I have to Kira. I'll show you the true meaning of justice!_" Athrun bit out before turning and flying at full speed back to the _Vesalius_. Ian moved alongside the Aegis and together they left the battlefield.

Once docked and shut down, both pilots were ordered to the bridge. Athrun was silent on the ride until Ian spoke up.

"Who is this Kira fellow?"

Athrun looked sad at the mention of that name.

"He's an old friend of mine; we went to junior school at Copernicus City together. I found out that he's with the Earth Alliance using the last Gundam. He's an idiot being controlled by those Naturals! And now Lacus is there!" Athrun punched the lift wall in anger.

Ian's response was cut off by the doors opening. Le Creuset and Ades were waiting for the two.

"Good. You are aware of the current situation. Even if our intelligence is correct about their crew we" Ades was cut off by his sensor officer.

"X105 Strike has launched from the _Archangel_!" he said.

"Incoming transmission from X105!" announced the comm officer.

"_This is Kira Yamato, of the X105 Strike. I have with me Lacus Clyne. I will return her if my conditions are met: Your ship must power down its engines, only the Aegis may come out to meet me. Any violations may result in harm coming to Miss Clyne._" he said.

Athrun looked at Le Creuset for guidance. The masked man nodded, and when Athrun left the bridge, he spoke up.

"Ades, get my CGUE ready, and Ian's Slayer."

* * *

"_Lacus is now in my custody, and I'm returning home._" said Athrun.

Rau launched in his CGUE, blasting away at full speed. He passed Athrun when Ian launched in the Slayer. Neither got much farther along when a soft female voice came over the comm system.

"_Commander Rau Le Creuset, I am Lacus Clyne. As a member of the Memorial Committee, it would be inappropriate to create a battlefield in front of me. I demand you cease all hostilities immediately._" she said.

Rau muttered something about a perplexing girl, and then turned back to dock with the _Vesalius_. Ian docked afterwards and then finally Athrun.

"Well I hope that was worth it." Ian said to Athrun while he, Athrun and Lacus rode the lift to another deck.

"Could have been worse." Athrun said back.

Lacus was smiling the entire way up and her pink toy Haro was bouncing around excitedly, alternating between saying 'Kira' and 'Athrun'.

* * *

The crew was informed later that the _Gamow_ was on its way to the _Vesalius_ after the failed attack on the _Archangel_. Duel, Buster and Blitz made an attempt on destroying the ship, but the end result was Yzak getting injured and Duel severely damaged.

The _Vesalius_, _Gamow_ and _Prometheus_ were waiting for one more _Laurasia_-class light frigate to meet up with them and until then they waited. Yzak was cleared for active duty, but was told to keep it light. Being the stubborn Coordinator that he was, he returned himself to full status. Most of the engineers and technicians were working on Duel, fixing all of the battle damage and upgrading up with more armor, mobility and weapons.

All of the other mobile suits were inspected and any minor damages were repaired. It was finally revealed that Command believed the 8th Fleet would shield the _Archangel_ while it dropped to Earth.

It was up to the five Gundam pilots and the escorting GINN units to break through the blockade and destroy the _Archangel_ and Strike. The danger inherent made the odds nearly impossible, but everyone in the force loved a challenge.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done and Gundam SEED events were slightly altered. Next chapter will feature many more changes. I am taking aspects from both the T.V. version and the Manga adaptation. Please always R & R, and thanks to those who already have done so.


	4. Chapter 4: Earth

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish).

* * *

_**_RVD:_** There will be plenty of conflict for Strike and Slayer, and Kira has that knack (of selling models oO')

**_Blah:_** Here you go, another one on the way!

**_FreedomGundam:_** Glad you think so, hope you like this chapter also.

* * *

Chapter 4: Earth

C.E. 71, February 11th

The entire 8th Fleet, under the command of renowned Rear Admiral Halberton, was busy moving out of Earth orbit. The _Archangel_ was hanging back, under protection of the _Agamemnon_-class _Menelaos_, the flagship of the fleet.

The _Vesalius_, _Prometheus_, _Gamow_ and _Ziegler_ were within 5000 meters of the ever approaching fleet. All GINNs and Gundams were standing by, ready for battle.

"_8th Fleet detected. All mobile suits launch immediately. Repeat, launch now._" said a voice over the intercom.

"Athrun Zala, Aegis, Launching!"

"Yzak Jule, Duel Assault Shroud, Launching!"

"Dearka Elthman, Buster, Going out!"

"Nichol Amalfi, Blitz, Leaving!"

"Ian Temk, Slayer, Moving out!"

One by one the Gundams launched, followed by the GINNs and two CGUEs. Ian cloaked and veered off to flank the fleet while the rest of the force dived straight in.

"_That legged ship is in the rear, there's no sign of Strike_." reported Athrun.

"_Engage at will! Pierce the blockade and destroy that ship!_" ordered Rau.

Dearka combined his beam rifle and gun-launcher to form a hyper-impulse rifle and fired. The powerful beam tore through a 130 meter ship, destroying it completely. Athrun transformed the Aegis into its mobile armor mode and raced past Moebius' and fired on a 130 meter with his Scylla cannon.

Yzak and Nichol occupied the defending mobile armors and were doing a good job at cleaning house. Ian uncloaked and engaged a 250 meter ship on the edge of the formation. It was a little more difficult without a larger caliber beam rifle, but with proper use of his beam saber and some lightning attacks, he managed just fine.

A swarm of Moebius' approached Dearka, so he reversed his hyper rifle and fired the anti-armor scatter gun at the incoming armors. Explosion lit up that portion of space. He turned and fired it again, the shots blowing through a third 130 meter ship.

Athrun reverted into his suit form and fired at the engines of a 250 meter. Nichol had snuck up to the bridge of a fourth 130 meter ship and launched his rocket-anchor, disabling the ship.

Ian targeted another 250 meter ship and as he flew by, he fired his beam rifle and dual railguns. Explosions rocked the ship and it started to fall back due to Earth's gravity. Smiling, Ian continued on course, cutting a swath of destruction moving towards the _Archangel_.

_Vesalius_ and _Prometheus_ fired their Gottfried cannons at two wounded ships, destroying the Earth ships completely. Looking at the battle recorder time, Ian was a little shocked to see that only 6 minutes had passed, and already there were 8 ships destroyed.

His sensors beeped in alarm, and an image of Strike and the Moebius Zero appeared.

"_So you came out at last eh Strike? I'll get my vengeance!_" said Yzak, accelerating to meet Strike head on.

_Something's not right here_ thought Ian. And he was right. Strike turned sharply to port while the Zero ascended. From behind them came blasts of energy from the _Archangel's_ Gottfriend cannons. Yzak dodged the main blast, but the legs of Duel were damaged, throwing his balance systems off completely.

"_Yzak, fall back to the _Vesalius_, two GINNs will escort you._" ordered Athrun.

Yzak growled in anger, and then started his trip back to the ship. Two GINN suits fell in escort positions. Strike accelerated again, this time heading straight for Aegis.

"Not this time Strike!" Ian yelled, pushing his thrusters to their max and intercepting the enemy Gundam.

Ian fired his shot lancer through Strike's beam rifle, this time on purpose. Strike immediately pulled out a beam saber and swung around to face Ian, who promptly cloaked and ran though some evasive maneuvers.

Having hopefully confused the pilot, Ian oriented himself towards Strike, uncloaked, fired three times and accelerated towards the enemy again. Kira dodged all three shots and took a swipe at Ian and missed.

Ian hard-stopped and launched all of his missiles, and engaged Strike again. Incoming fire destroyed the missiles, but it wasn't from Kira. The pilot of the Zero managed to evade Dearka and attack missiles with his gun pods.

"_Captain Zeruman!_" cried out Nichol.

Ian turned to see the _Gamow_ bearing down on the _Menelaos_, firing on its way.

"_For all those who died, we will open a path._" broadcasted Zeruman.

A 130 meter ship moved to intercept the incoming ZAFT ship and even with Mu's help, the Alliance ship was destroyed. The _Gamow_ barreled towards the _Menelaos_, firing all weapons.

"Athrun, Nichol, help out the _Gamow _and Dearka. I'll take care of Strike!" Ian said, dodging fire from Strike's head vulcans.

"_Roger that._" said Nichol before cloaking and moving in to support the _Gamow_.

"_Be careful._" replied Athrun, and then he proceeded towards Buster and the Zero.

"Now it's just you and me. Yzak wanted revenge for his humiliations, but it looks like I'll be serving justice tonight!" Ian said to Kira.

Kira didn't respond with words, only rapid swipes from his beam saber. Ian blocked and fired his shot lancer, aiming for the cockpit. Strike dodged, the pilot was no slouch, and the weapon tore Strike's shield in half.

Ejecting the shield, Kira armed and equipped the other beam saber.

"Oh crap, he's got two and I've only got one." Ian said to himself.

Strike began a wild offensive, pushing Ian further back as they went. No damage was done to either unit until Ian fired his railguns right after Strike thrust one of the beam sabers. The beam damaged Strike's left arm, rendering the arm useless. The saber flew out of his grasp and promptly deactivated.

Firing his head vulcans again, Kira pulled back to assess his situation. He was down to a single beam saber and his head vulcans for weapons, whereas Ian had everything but his missiles.

Now on the offensive, Ian fired his railguns as fast they could handle, charging after the enemy. Finally one solid shot connected with the Aile backpack, damaging the right thrusters. Kira ejected to useless pack and tried to fly away.

"No more! Now you're finished!" Ian yelled.

A seed exploded in Kira's mind. Without major thought he threw away the last saber and pulled out both Armor Schneiders. Ian couldn't stop in time and Kira stabbed the first knife in the thigh of Slayer's left leg.

The second knife stabbed deep into the right arm, disabling the Trikeros Mk. II shield. Both units floated in space for a few seconds.

"If you think I'm out of the game, think again!" Ian growled. He may not have enough power for the weapons but there was one more trick to pull.

Kira was a little confused, but then he saw everything in amazing clarity as Ian's shot lancer punched through Strike's head. If the hydraulic system had power, the weapon would have torn the head in half, and as it was, the lancer was stuck inside the head.

Ian poured all remaining power into his thrusters and pulled away. Strike's head proved to be more resilient than Slayer's shot lancer, the weapon broke off from Slayer's left arm.

"Next time Strike, you die!" Ian said while flying back to the _Prometheus_.

-

The _Archangel_ successfully landed in Alaska at the JOSH-A base with a damaged Strike and Moebius Zero. Yzak disobeyed orders and followed the ship down with Dearka, and the two pilots managed to land at the ZAFT Carpentaria base safely.

Commander Creuset was relieved to see them alive, but furious that Yzak went back with his damaged suit. Nichol and Athrun were given three days leave and safe passage back to PLANT. Ian prepared to drop to Earth to help Yzak and Dearka, but only after repairs was completed on Slayer.

The ZAFT High Council still considered the re-entry battle a victory. The complete annihilation of the 8th Fleet, Strike damaged enough that a serious repair job was needed and all five of the ZAFT Gundams intact, except for Yzak's, but it apparently was operable, constituted a moral boost and a battle worthy of the codices.

The timetable for Operation Spit-Break was prepared. The battle for Earth would begin.

* * *

A/N: Well another battle concluded and major changes occured! What will this do for the timeline? Read to find out, and always Review! Thank you.

P.S. Thank you FreedomGundam for pointing out my minor mistake. It is supposed to be Aegis and not Justice launching.


	5. Chapter 5: Unexpected Victories

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish).

* * *

_**_RVD:_** True both units took damage, but yes, I would award Ian the victory. Slayer still had the railguns left, being that they fire solid rounds and not beam rounds.

**_FreedomGundam:_** Sorry about the confusion, I was working on my new Gundam universe music video, which included an audio sequence of "Athrun Zala, Justice, Launching!". I added a memo at the end of the newly revised Chapter 4

**_Lipana:_** No, unfortunately the _Archangel_ didn't land in the desert. However there is still plenty of time for events to play out. Besides, this is an AU (alternate Universe) fic.

* * *

Chapter 5: Unexpected Victories

C.E. 71, February 15th

"_Transport A-1, this is Carpentaria Control, you are cleared to land in Bay 2-C._"

"Roger that Control, landing in Bay 2-C."

The bulky ZAFT supply ship set sound with a heavy sigh, and then opened the large cargo bay doors. Ian was waiting on the bridge, to see what his orders were.

"Mister Temk, you can offload your Gundam now. The Gool units will be offloaded right after." said the Captain.

"Thank you sir!" Ian saluted and left for the cargo bay.

_So this is Earth ... again. It's going to be a little different fighting in gravity._ Ian thought.

The offloading process went smoothly, Ian was directed towards the bay where Duel and Buster were, while the Gool sub-flight lifter units were taken to the maintenance hangar for inspections.

The ZAFT technicians in space didn't have the knowledge to create another shot lancer to replace Ian's lost weapon, so they installed a beam saber with its own battery for emergencies.

Ian preferred his shot lancer to the new saber because the lancer was better for stealth operations. Having no choice at this time, he relented and agreed to the saber. Shutting down his Slayer, Ian exited and rappelled down the suit, where Yzak and Dearka were waiting.

"So Strike got away from you too." that was no question from Yzak.

"The pilot of Strike has more skill than I gave him credit for, but I managed to damage that Gundam." Ian replied.

"So I heard. Now we have to finish him off before the Alliance decides to attack."

"Oh sure, the three of us will invade Alaska, attack their primary terrestrial headquarters, and find and destroy Strike. Good plan." said Dearka sarcastically.

"Athrun and Nichol will be descending later today, and they're bringing Commander Le Creuset with them." Ian said, breaking the stares between Yzak and Dearka.

"So they're really going to go through with Operation Spit-Break and attack Panama." Dearka said.

"Looks like it. C'mon, I'm starving, let's get some chow." Ian suggested. The others nodded and they started off for the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was empty when they arrived, so they got their food and sat down at the nearest table. Not five minutes later a group of pilots, barely 18, entered. They stopped when they saw Yzak and Dearka, but they didn't know who Ian was.

"So this is who you picked to replace Rusty?" said one of the boys, sneering.

"I heard you let the enemy get away ... again." said another.

"So the rumors are true, Yzak got hurt. You got what you deserved you momma's boy!" a third said.

Yzak continued to eat, attempting to ignore the comments. Ian was looking around at the group while Dearka was fuming with anger.

The first boy who spoke leaned in close to whisper to Yzak.

"It's pretty sad when you can't win with 4 to 1 odds against a natural!"

Yzak snapped. He grabbed the boy by his hair and belt and flipped him onto the table.

"Don't ever talk to me!" he growled while standing up. The rest of the group assumed fighting positions. Ian and Dearka stood up to support Yzak.

"Poor baby, are the mobile suits to much to handle?" said another boy teasingly.

Yzak threw the punch that started it all.

-

"I am very disappointed in all of you." said Captain Morassim.

The five boys were standing in a line with Yzak, Dearka and Ian.

"Our enemies are the Naturals, not each other!" he continued.

The five boys were all injured and three of them had broken bones.

"I realize we've had fewer victories here on Earth than anticipated, but that is no reason to fight each other."

The three Gundam pilots were breathing hard, but were barely bruised at all.

"Commander Creuset has 'bailed' you three out, or so to speak. But you five, from all reports, started the incident."

"Yzak hit me first!" whined the first boy to be punched.

"And when I walked in, scant five minutes later, the three of them were beating the crap out of the five of you."

The boy fell silent, his cheeks burning with rage and humiliation.

"Let that be your lesson. No matter how good you are, there is always someone better." Captain Morassim dismissed the five beaten boys.

"However you three should know more self-restraint, especially you Yzak, and you Dearka. As for you Ian, you must learn." Finally finished, he dismissed the three pilots.

"Well that was fun actually. Let's go find some more." Yzak said cheerfully.

Dearka looked at his friend in horror. Ian rolled his eyes and sighed.

"It's better than sitting on our butts all day long. We haven't been allowed any missions since we landed days ago!" Yzak argued.

"Probably because we're waiting for Athrun and Nichol. When we're all assembled I'm sure we'll get a challenging mission." Ian said.

Yzak was apparently satisfied with that answer. He nodded and walked off in a random direction.

"Is he alright?" Ian asked.

"He gets like this. He's an only child and never got out much before the war started." Dearka answered.

-

Athrun and Nichol landed that night with Aegis, Blitz and Commander Creuset. Their units were offloaded and placed in the same hangar as Slayer, Duel and Buster. Creuset went off to find Captain Morassim.

Yzak and Dearka were somewhere else, and only Ian greeted the other two Gundam pilots.

"Good to see there were no complications on the descent. How was your leave?" Ian asked.

"It was enjoyable." Nichol said, smiling.

"That it was. How's Yzak?" Athrun asked.

"Moody. Dearka's trying to contain him, but you know Yzak." Ian replied, shrugging.

They started walking towards their rooms while continuing to talk.

"So we'll have to use the Gool lifter units while on Earth I suppose." said Ian.

"None of our units were made with terrestrial combat in mind. We don't have the power necessary to generate enough thrust to actually fly. We can hover, but not a lot else."

"I heard you three got into a fight earlier." Nichol said suddenly, after Athrun finished explaining.

"Well, yeah, but we were provoked." Ian said, somewhat defensively.

"You don't look like you were in a fight." Nichol said, a little confused.

"I guess we're just that good." Ian said.

They parted ways and crashed into their bunks.

-

C.E. 71, March 3rd

All in all, Yzak was going insane with boredom. So was Dearka. And Ian. Even Athrun and Nichol were tiring of the repeated events. Almost a month had passed since they had regrouped on Earth at the Carpentaria base, and they had seen no action with the Earth Alliance forces. Only a routine patrol every three days with the Gool units kept them from going completely insane.

There was no word on Strike's status, or on the current whereabouts of the _Archangel_. Reports from spies within the Alliance mention something about a mass produced mobile suit variant, but nothing concrete.

Preparations for Operation Spit-Break continued unabated.

-

C.E. 71, March 15th

"_Incoming enemy units! All pilots report to your suits! Repeat incoming Earth Alliance craft, all pilots report to your suits!_" the battle alarm was sounded.

"What? Where? Who?" Ian rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he sat up.

Yzak was already putting his ZAFT Elite pilot's suit on while Dearka and Athrun were getting theirs. Nichol was running off to hangar bay.

"The Earth Alliance is attacking. All units have been ordered to defend." Athrun explained, sealing his suit.

"Damn." Ian swore, getting out of bed and grabbing his suit.

It was just a few minutes later when they were all in their Gundams, preparing to launch.

"_Gundams, we have spotted 12, repeat one two, Skygrasper units. Profile and speed suggests packs have been loaded on. Assess their strength cautiously._" explained Captain Morassim.

One by one, they mounted their Gool lifters and rose out of the base.

"_Enemy spotted 6 o'clock!_" Dearka reported.

He armed his hyper-rifle and fired. The enemy broke from their formation and dodged the blast.

"Several Skygraspers have been loaded with the Impulse Cannon pack, similar to Strike's!" Ian reported.

"_Spread out, they'll have less shots than we will!_" ordered Athrun.

The pilots flew off in directions away from each other. Ian fired his railguns, rotating to track one of the enemy fighter planes.

"Damn, they're fast, even with the unbalanced gun." Ian muttered.

"_Yzak, move hard to port!_" screamed Nichol. Yzak moved right away and two of the multi-colored beams crackled through the air.

"_It's no good; we can't hit them sitting still!_" Dearka complained.

"_Follow your targets, coordinate with the others._" cut in Le Creuset.

Two DINNs were attempting to launch when a Skygrasper equipped with a Sword Striker pack sliced them in half, its anti-ship sword cocked vertically. A GINN OCHER started firing, but was damaged by fire from the machine-cannons from another Skygrasper.

Ian started after one of the Launcher-Grasper, maneuvering onto the pilot's tail and firing his beam rifle twice. The first shot damaged the weapon pod mounted on the right wing, and the second missed.

Ejecting the damaged pod, the pilot banked sharply, attempting to pull an Immelman and end up behind Ian. Ian allowed the pilot to complete the maneuver and simply rotated himself 90 degrees and reversed his thrust.

The pilot was stunned at this maneuver, he held off his fire for several seconds. Ian took advantage of this and fired his railguns simultaneously. The plane exploded, leaving nothing but minor scrap metal behind.

"One down!" he said victoriously.

Another explosion caught his attention. He turned to see the Aegis crash to the ground, followed by the burning wreckage of his Gool. Arming the Gool's missile launchers, he took off towards Athrun.

Dearka downed another Launcher-Grasper, using the 'you-can't-dodge-if-there's-nowhere-to-dodge' pattern of attack. He combined his gun-launcher with the beam rifle and fired several times, creating a literal wall of fire.

A Sword-Grasper flew in front of Ian, so he changed course to follow. Gaining a weapon lock, he fired several missiles at the Natural. The pilot was better than Ian could have anticipated, dodging three missiles, but his luck ran out and the remaining active missiles impacted just behind the cockpit, send the Skygrasper burning towards the coastline.

Turning to find more targets, he saw Yzak high above in the sky, apparently waiting. With no warning, he jumped off the Gool and landed on a Launcher-Grasper that was flying by. Yzak fired his beam rifle once at the cockpit.

Inexplicably, the remaining pilots retreated. No one gave chase to the retreating fighters. Pondering for a moment, Athrun was about to speak up when their proximity alarms went off, alerting them to incoming VTOL fighters.

Which made no sense; why send in a dozen Skygraspers to get chewed up then send in VTOL fighters? The question was confusing enough to keep most of the base personnel occupied for crucial seconds. The incoming VTOL fighters were equipped with high-yield bombs and nothing else.

They began their attack run, starting the drop at the edge of the base walls. Explosions trailed behind the Alliance bombers as they continued unabated. Dearka got his act together first, getting out from underneath the bombs and then firing at the VTOLs.

Athrun had no Gool unit, so he used the Aegis' engines to boost him upwards where Nichol and Yzak caught and supported him. Ian pulled out also, and began firing at the falling bombs. There wasn't much time from when they were dropped to when they hit the ground and exploded, the VTOL fighters were flying low enough for that.

One by one they were shot down; the pilots never attempted evasive maneuvers at all. Carpentaria base was in flames, most of its buildings were now leveled and few suits survived the attack run.

Miraculously the command center escaped the brunt of it all. There was damage, but the building was intact and upright, and attempting to find out what had just happened. The Gundams set down on a relatively intact piece of concrete, and then began to offer ideas on the attack,

While they were talking, Ian reviewed his gun-footage of the battle. It had seemed like the Skygraspers were missing a lot of their shots, as if the defending mobile suits were never their target.

One clip caught his attention; it was a Launcher-Grasper firing at Nichol, who managed to dodge. Except the shot wasn't that accurate at all, and it hit one of the radar stations. Ian was willing to chalk the inaccuracy up to Natural deficiencies, but the destruction of a radar station was almost too coincidental.

Not long after, a Sword-Grasper attacked a ZuOOT and missed, but the extended sword breached several meter-thick conductor cables.

"It was a setup!" Ian said and banged his fist against the viewscreen displaying the two clips again and again.

"_What was?_" growled Yzak.

"The attack was; the Skygraspers came in to soften up the static defenses: power, radar, sentry turrets etc. Then the VTOL fighters came in after the hornet's nest had been stirred. Most of the ground units didn't know what had happened, so they were easy bait for the bombs. They've obviously been tracking unit movement." Ian explained.

"_That would explain the sudden retreat and lack of numbers._" Dearka added.

"_So what happens now? Will Carpentaria shut down?_" asked Nichol.

"_For now yes. Effective immediate, we are transferred to Captain Morassim's unit. The _Cousteau_ will be here in two hours._" Commander Creuset put in.

Le Creuset signed off, leaving behind cursing pilots.

-

C.E. 71, March 28th

The remaining ZAFT forces from Carpentaria were transferred to the other major bases on Earth. Punitive missions were carried out to exact revenge on the Earth Alliance. The _Vosgulov_-class submarine carrier _Cousteau_ picked up the five Gundams and several Gool units.

Near the end of the month, brief sightings of the _Archangel_ carrier were running rampart around the submarine. Terrestrial Command was shifted to the Victoria base, due mainly to the mass driver located there.

Orders from the new Headquarters came down.

"We've been assigned the honor and duty of destroying the_ Archangel_. The last sighting reported the ship in the Indian Ocean. That's where we're going." said Morassim.

"How many suits are we fielding?" asked Athrun.

"Two DINN Aerial Combat Mobile Suits, two GOOhN Amphibious Mobile Suits and the five Gundams; Aegis, Blitz, Buster, Duel and Slayer." Creuset tallied off.

"Do we know the current armaments of the _Archangel_?" Nichol inquired.

"Other than the Strike Gundam, no."

"_Briefing Room, Bridge, we've sighted our target. Range is 2500 meters and closing._" reported the sensor officer.

"Bridge, Briefing Room, roger that. I'm on my way." Morassim replied. He turned to the pilots before he left.

"Get ready."

"_All mobile suits are cleared for launch!_"

The two GOOhN suits launched out of the bow doors, transforming and jetting off towards the target. The Gundams and DINNs launched from the ventral doors, shooting through the water like rockets then bursting out from the surface.

"_Target sighted, they're opening the hangar doors!_" Dearka said.

"_Strike Gundam sighted!_" Yzak said happily.

"_And a Skygrasper with the Launcher pack_." Nichol added.

The battle was about to begin.

* * *

A/N: I think this chapter was a little longer, but that shouldn't be a problem. I hope. But there's something about the Indian Ocean .... Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6: Disappointments

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at ****Heliopolis****, unbeknownst to the Earth ****Alliance****, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish).

* * *

_Chapter 6: Disappointments

C.E. 71, March 28th

"_Target sighted, they're opening the hangar doors!_" Dearka said.

"_Strike Gundam sighted!_" Yzak said happily.

"_And a Skygrasper with the Launcher pack_." Nichol added.

"_Engage at will!_" Athrun ordered.

Yzak and Dearka split off, moving together to flank the _Archangel_, while Athrun and Nichol bore straight in towards the Alliance battleship. Ian moved to flank the other side, arming all his weapons.

Strike was equipped with the Aile pack, allowing it some vertical thrust, but nothing when compared to the Gool lifter units. Athrun and Nichol occupied Strike while the DINNs were keeping the Launcher-Grasper busy.

The GOOhNs had arrived on the scene and began to barrage the submerged parts of the _Archangel_. It looked like the _Archangel_ would be at the bottom of the ocean by the end of the day. The _Archangel_ rose several dozen meters to avoid the GOOhN's barrage.

Ian's proximity alarm alerted him to another Skygrasper launching.

"Heads up, a second Skygrasper has launched! And ... what kind of Striker pack is that?" The Skygrasper had a black colored pack, which apparently was loaded extra thrusters and some weapons.

The Skygrasper fired several rapid railgun rounds, hitting the first DINN dead on, destroying it completely. Activating its extra booster, the Skygrasper shot forward past the Gundams and the last DINN.

"_What in hell's name was that?_" demanded Yzak.

"It was a Skygrasper with a new Striker pack!" Ian replied, dodging anti-air fire from the _Archangel_.

The new Skygrasper banked sharply, and then dived towards the surface of the ocean. One of GOOhNs broke past the surface to target the enemy ship and promptly dived again as machine-cannon rounds flew past him.

Then the odds started to turn. The Launcher-Grasper fired its impulse cannon at Dearka, who was aiming his hyper-rifle at the _Archangel_.

"_Dearka, evasive!_" Yzak shouted.

The Buster pulled up, but not in time. The impulse shot obliterated his Gool and the explosion threw Dearka off his senses. He plunged into the ocean, followed by burning wreckage.

"_Dearka!_" Nichol screamed.

The Skygrasper fired at the second DINN with all of its weapons, but the pilot managed to evade the worst of it. However its left flight wings were blown off, forcing the pilot to retreat.

"_Whoever is piloting that Skygrasper is good! Yzak, Athrun, I suggest you two concentrate on the Skygrasper while Ian and I go for Strike and the Launcher-Grasper. The GOOhNs can attack the _Archangel" Nichol suggested.

"_Good idea. Yzak, with me!_" Athrun agreed, and together he and Yzak stopped their attack on Strike and started after the Skygrasper.

"Nichol, take the Launcher-Grasper, Strike has a debt to pay." Ian said coldly.

Blitz's eyes flashed in agreement.

"So Strike, we meet again. You survived last time, but now you can't fly." Ian transmitted.

"_And you're wrong in thinking I'll go down here!_" Kira said back.

Foregoing all ranged weapons, Ian activated both of his beam sabers and charged at Strike. In response Strike jetted upwards with a boost from the Aile pack and fired at Ian. Dodging the incoming beams, Ian swiped at Kira with his Trikeros Mk. II beam saber.

Strike flipped above the saber and landed hard on Slayer's back, sending the Gundam flying off the Gool and towards the sea. Ian swore and rotated to face Strike as he fell. Arming his missiles, he fired all six, hoping to catch Strike in freefall.

Kira sacrificed his shield to block the missiles and ejected the pitiful remnants and fired twice at Ian. Ian blocked one shot and the other narrowly missed. He called his sub-lifter down to catch him before he hit the ocean. Rotating again to position himself properly, he saw the Launcher-Grasper bearing down on him, the Impulse cannon aimed directly at Ian.

"Oh crap!" Ian hit his thrusters, breaking the target lock, and then continued into a flip which landed him on top of the Launcher-Grasper. Scant seconds later as he was about to fire, the other Skygrasper came around and fired a barrage of railgun rounds. Ian broke off his attack and positioned the shield over the torso of the Gundam. The rounds impacted and Ian was torn off from the back of the Launcher-Grasper and sent flying again.

He was in luck, his Gool had caught up and Ian deftly landed on the lifter. He rocketed away from the Skygrasper, to assess the situation.

"Where are the GOOhNs?" he asked. Then he saw.

The Skygrasper had destroyed one as the ZAFT pilot prepared to fire his Phonon Maser energy cannons. The other was nowhere to be seen, so Ian presumed the second destroyed as well.

In a matter of minutes the Earth Alliance forces had managed to almost even out the odds against them. Whoever was in that second Skygrasper was doing a good job of taking out his enemies.

The Launcher-Grasper was closing in on Nichol, but Athrun had other ideas. Storing his beam rifle, he activated one of his built-in beam sabers and swiped at the fighter as it swept by. While he missed the cockpit, the Impulse cannon below was sliced off, rendering the Launcher-Grasper useless against the Phase-Shift active Gundams.

Then the second Skygrasper switched Striker packs with Strike in mid-air. The black Striker pack looked more threatening on Strike than it did the Skygrasper, now armed with the Aile parts, minus the shield.

Strike assembled the Electromagnetic cannon and fired. An explosion rocked the remaining forces, and everyone looked to see who got hit.

"_Gundams, sound off! Yzak, Duel, all systems go!_" Yzak ordred, being the first to recover.

"_Nichol, Blitz, just fine._"

"Ian, Slayer, confused but operable."

They waited for Athrun to respond. The smoke finally cleared to reveal a wobbling and headless Aegis. There was massive damage to the command Gundam, its Phase Shift was down and its arms hung uselessly.

"_Nichol, escort Athrun out! Ian and I will cover you two!_"

Blitz broke off and guided Athrun back home. Strike prepared to fire again, but Yzak fired his 175mm grenade which exploded against Strike's cockpit. Sparks flew and crackled, but Strike was still in the game.

Duel ascended high in the air, firing his beam rifle, railgun and head vulcans as he went. Yzak twirled in mid-air and fired his thrusters at full thrust, barreling towards Strike from high above.

Kira's thrusters were firing continuously as he maintained his position, attempting to lock onto Duel with his massive cannon. Yzak smiled and fired everything he had; railgun, beam rifle, shoulder missiles and the Gool's missiles.

Too late, Kira fired his railguns and head vulcans to destroy some of the missiles while dodging the incoming fire, but there were simply too many missiles to down in such a short time.

Flying downwards past Strike, Yzak whipped around and fired his beam rifle and railgun again, aiming from below. Kira froze, he was effectively trapped. Images of Heliopolis flashed through his mind, he squeezed his eyes shut to force the images out, when he opened them again, and his eyes had crystallized into seed-mode.

Detaching the Lightning pack, Strike dropped like a stone towards Yzak, who was climbing as fast as he could. Kira pulled out one of his Armor Schneiders and held it in a two-handed grip over his head, blade pointed downwards. Just before he passed Duel, Kira stabbed the knife into the front of the Gool, which promptly swung Strike in a semi-circle. Kira let go of the knife and flipped the Gundam to avoid the engines, then fired his thrusters, propelling Strike upwards, to meet once again with the Lightning pack.

Yzak jumped off the damaged lifter towards Strike as Kira fired his railguns, destroying it completely. Duel crashed into Strike and the two X100 series Gundams dropped into the ocean.

Ian charged at the Aile-Grasper, railguns firing. The Skygrasper had fewer weapons and less mobility with the Aile pack on, compared to his first one.

"You're no match for me now, little fighter." Ian taunted.

The Aile-Grasper started a series of evasive maneuvers, flying closer and closer to the _Archangel_, hoping to use its multiple missile launchers and Igelstellung CIWS cannons to his advantage.

_Damn, I can't beat the _Archangel_ on my own, and I can't take out that damn Skygrasper without flying through the defensive cannons first._

"Yzak, where are you?" Ian commed.

"_A little busy right now!_" came the brusque reply.

Duel had scored a few minor hits on Strike after they splashed into the ocean, but it wasn't enough to take Strike down.

Strike had its other Armor Schneider in a position to suit both quick attacks and blocks. Duel had lost its beam rifle to a lucky railgun shot, but replaced it with a beam saber. They both floated in the water for a few seconds, staring each other down. Then Yzak charged, his shield ready to take any attacks and beam saber ready to slice downwards.

Kira fired everything he had left, and all of the shots connected with Duel. The shockwave from the explosion rocked Kira, but left him otherwise unharmed. A rapidly expanding cloud of debris obscured his vision.

"_Yzak! Report now!_" Ian demanded.

"Did I get him?" Kira wondered aloud.

Twin beam sabers sliced through the Lightning pack as Duel appeared out from the debris, minus its Assault Shroud. Yzak then boosted upwards and flew out of the water.

Ian caught Duel in mid-air on his Gool and poured on all his speed to fly home.

-

"So would any of you mind telling my exactly what went on out there?" Le Creuset asked staring at the remaining pilots seated in the briefing room.

"Frankly, we got our asses handed to us sir." Yzak said angrily.

"I noticed that part." Creuset replied.

"The Alliance apparently developed another pack for Strike, and it was quite a shock to see it in action." Athrun tried to explain.

The pilots re-capped the events that lead up to the eventual defeat at the hands of Strike and the two Skygraspers.

"So you're telling me that Strike and the _Archangel _are still fully operational. We can't expect many reinforcements, but at least we can repair all of your Gundams."

"I wouldn't say Strike is fully operational Commander, but it's still active." Yzak corrected.

"Either way, Strike still poses a threat. We don't know the _Archangel's_ objective, but its either going for the Victoria base, or the Gibraltar base." Nichol said.

-

C.E. 71, April 17th

By the time the _Cousteau_ caught up with the _Archangel_, the Alliance ship had landed in the African deserts and the ZAFT Gundams were fully repaired. Strike engaged the Desert Tiger, Captain Andrew Bartfelt, and thus far, neither pilot had come out on top.

The Gundams were sent to reinforce the _Lesseps_, Captain Bartfelt's ship, which was currently in a position to attack the _Archangel_. Rumors of the resistance group Desert Dawn joining with the Alliance forces had reached the Creuset team's ears.

Though small in numbers and under-armed, they had managed to resist this far, and even destroy or damage a few mobile suits.

"_Gundams, you are cleared for launch!_"

* * *

A/N: Biiiiig battle there. More to come. Hopefully soon. Please R & R! 


	7. Chapter 7: Crimson Skies

**_Lipana:_ **I think you read my mind about the ISWP. It will make an appearance or two. Since I've changed the continuity that the original series laid out, I figured it's safe to assume that the EA would have more resources and time to properly develop the Lightning Pack.

**_RVD:_** Everyone needs a bit of butt-kicking ... And I don't think anyone will be ready for what happens next.

* * *

Chapter 7: Crimson Skies

C.E. 71, April 17th

"_Gundams, you are cleared for launch!_"

They had built a temporary base several miles away from a town named Tassil. The Gundams were floating on their Gool units, waiting for orders to launch. They blasted off without hesitation as soon as the base commander spoke up.

"_Captain Bartfelt is already engaged in combat with Strike._"

"_Acknowledged, we're on our way!_" Athrun replied.

The comm channel became active with ZAFT soldiers shouts of confusion. Some of the words stuck out.

"_What the hell? What kind of Skygrasper is that?_"

"_Oh, god I'm hit!_"

"_They've changed in mid-air, and what the ..._"

"_Kentura no! You bastard!_"

"_Captain!_"

"_Oh my god, they're getting slaughtered out there._" Dearka said softly.

"_Nichol, Dearka, take down the _Archangel_, Yzak, Ian, you're with me._"

Duel, Slayer and Aegis broke off from Buster and Blitz, and headed towards the remaining BuCUEs and the single LaGOWE.

Several jeeps were moving towards a BuCUE, obviously intent on taking the quadruped mobile suit down. Yzak swooped low and drew his beam saber. Passing over the small convoy, he swiped down, letting the tip slice through the sand and pass through the jeeps.

Laughing, he came around for another pass, this time targeting the Launcher-Grasper that was annoying the ZAFT ground forces. Yzak swiped upwards, slicing the fighter in half, separating the engines from the cockpit. The pilot was lucky or quick enough to eject, leaving the exploding jet behind.

"_Deny me my kill will you? Not a chance!_" It was overkill, but Yzak moved in to kill the escaped pilot. From out of nowhere came Aile Strike, having switched again with the other Skyrgasper, to catch Duel's arm. Kira used his momentum to throw Yzak off his Gool.

Strike fired his beam rifle, and in response Yzak launched his missiles. Kira jetted above them and after a long back-flip, landed on a BuCUE, pushing the hapless ZAFT pilot to the ground.

Engaging his thrusters, Kira flew towards the LaGOWE, beam saber at the ready. Bartfelt was more than ready, he activated the LaGOWE's beam saber and twirling the mobile suit, he managed to slice off part of the Aile thruster pack, but he unfortunately lost his dual beam cannons on the top-mounted turret.

"_Mr. Bartfelt ..._" came Kira's voice.

"_Not yet boy! I told you before, there aren't any easy ways to end a war!_" said Andrew in response.

Kira ejected his Aile pack, beam rifle and shield, and pulled out an Armor Schneider. The LaGOWE charged at Strike, aiming for the cockpit, but Kira stabbed the knife down just behind the LaGOWE's head before the saber could cut into Strike.

"_I didn't want to kill him ..._" said a quiet, emotional voice.

"_Ian, Athrun, corner that damned Skygrasper before it tries to kill us again!_" said an enraged Yzak.

The inherent problem with most mobile armors and fighter jets is their inability to properly fly in all three dimensions. The mobile suit was built to combat that handicap, and they usually left the outdated mobile armors in the dust.

That was the problem the pilot of the Skygrasper had. Yzak, Athrun and Ian were flying at every angle and degree possible, firing and dodging in every direction. The fighter couldn't follow fast enough to target the Gundams accurately.

Everyone's proximity alarms went off several cargo planes appeared overhead.

"_What the? Earth Alliance transports?_" Nichol was clearly confused.

So were the rest of the pilots.

"_They're dropping ... mobile suits!_" Athrun reported.

"What? Mobile suits!"

"_Looks like a mass produced Strike!_" Yzak snarled.

"_We can't take them all! There must be at least 50!_" Dearka said apprehensively.

"_Gundams, return to base immediately!_"

-

"Intelligence calls it the 'GAT-X01 Strike Dagger', a Mass Produced version of the indomitable Strike Gundam. Near as we can tell, the standard armaments are one beam saber, one head Vulcan, a beam rifle and a shield.

While not formidable on a one-to-one basis, their strength lies in numbers, and extrapolating from what we saw earlier, they have lots."

"I'd like to know when they developed these little grunts." Yzak growled.

"They probably started the same time the Gundams were developed, and then with the combat data from Strike, they could go from there. With all of the Earth's resources, the Alliance probably prepared for this extensively, creating mass production factories before Strike landed at JOSH-A." Athrun suggested.

"That makes too much sense Zala. Now they have an army of mobile suits, a Gundam to lead them and that damned Skygrasper and black pack." Yzak replied sarcasm and anger dripping off his words.

"And that pack is called the Lightning pack, recently developed at JOSH-A as well. Evidently it's very effective on both Strike and the Skygraspers." added the base commander.

"But we've got bigger problems, Captain Bartfelt is dead." Dearka cut in.

"I know, and ZAFT forces are pulling a temporary retreat to Gilbraltar to assess our situation in light of the Strike Daggers." said the commander.

"In the meantime," he continued "you five are being reassigned again, to patrol the ocean for any signs of Earth Alliance vessels or fleets."

"What?!"

"Why?"

"The hell?"

All five Gundam pilots voiced their outrage at being demoted to patrol duty on the ocean.

-

C.E. 71, April 26th

"_Well this still blows._" Yzak said angrily.

"_Complaining won't get us anywhere._" Nichol replied, hoping to stop Yzak's rant before it really got going.

"_Yeah, and if we complain too much, we might get a crappier job._" agreed Dearka.

"_Yzak has a point, it's been how long now and we still haven't seen any sign of any ships anywhere remotely close to our location?_" Athrun put in.

"Wish and ye shall receive Athrun. Enemy ship spotted, Red 23, Gamma 2, Mark 5!" Ian called out.

"_Confirmed, I see it. IFF declares it ...the _Archangel" Nichol confirmed.

"_Finally some action and Strike's here to make me happy again!_" Yzak said, his voice losing its angry tone.

"_They've detected us, Strike and the Skygrasper have launched!_" Dearka reported as he combined his beam rifle with his gun-launcher to form the hyper-rifle.

Strike had on the Lightning pack, with the Electromagnetic cannon already assembled, while the Skygrasper had the Aile pack on.

Kira wasted no time in choosing a target and unleashing a massive blast from his cannon. Deaka was the unfortunate recipient, and due to the size of the beam, was unable to dodge all of it.

"_I'm hit!_" he cried out. The beam blew off his left arm and melted some thrusters and armor, severely draining his power. Both of the _Archangel's_ hangar bays were open, and due to his momentum, Dearka crashed inside the starboard one.

"_Dearka! You'll pay for that Strike!_" Yzak yelled.

The rest of the Gundams charged, weaving in between each other to confuse the gunners. With their heavy hitter down, it was going to be a lot harder to down the battleship, but they would succeed or die trying.

A second Skygrasper launched from the port hangar bay, it had the Sword Striker pack on. This was the most even match ZAFT and the Earth Alliance had ever fought.

"_Heads up! Sword-Grasper has launched!_" Athrun warned.

_At least they don't seem to be carrying any Strike Daggers ... or maybe that's what their plan is._ Ian thought.

Yzak and Athrun were pushing Strike further and further away from the _Archangel_ with their relentless attacks. That left Nichol and Ian to deal with the Skygraspers.

"Nichol, stick to the Sword-Grasper and don't let him draw you towards the _Archangel_!" Ian said, starting an attack run on the Lightning-Grasper.

"_Roger that, be careful against your opponent._" Nichol replied.

The pilot of the Sword-Grasper must have been afraid of handling a Gundam on its own, so the pilot took off towards Strike, currently fighting Aegis and Duel. Nichol took off after his target, firing his beam rifle at the cowardly fighter jet.

The fighter ejected the Sword Striker parts over Kira, who engaged his thrusters to meet the parts in the sky. Pulling a tight turn, the Skygrasper docked with the Aile parts.

Kira drew his "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword and activated the beam blade portion. Yzak flew overhead on his Gool, preparing to attack Strike. Athrun took the low approach, charging Strike head on. Kira dodged and fired his "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchor at the Gool. The grappling device lodged inside, and the sudden stop threw Aegis off towards the ground.

Yzak swooped around, lining up a clear shot, but Strike threw the "Midas Messer" beam boomerang. Duel dodged, but his Gool was cut in half. Firing his thrusters, Duel drew one of his beam sabers, ready to slice Strike in half.

Kira parried the attack with his massive sword.

"_So fast ..._" Yzak said.

Athrun recovered from his fall, and charged forward to help Yzak. Activating one of his four built-in beam sabers, he swung at Kira, who promptly blocked the attack. Yzak and Athrun began a series of attacks on Strike, who miraculously dodged or blocked them all. Strike even got a few attacks in, driving one of the Gundams back at a time.

By now the Aile-Grasper had returned to support the Lightning-Grasper, with Nichol following close behind, trying to get a clear shot. Both pilots were extremely lucky, but Ian decided that their luck would end right now.

He charged forwards, leaving himself open to attack. The Lightning-Grasper took the invitation eagerly, matching his heading and firing while flying head on.

"Nichol fire now!"

Blitz fired all three of its hyper-fast energy penetrator "Lancer Darts" at the Lightning-Grasper. The pilot was hit by all three darts, but managed to evade critical damage. With smoke pouring out of three different places, the pilot retreated to the relative safety of the _Archangel_ and landed.

"Nichol, support Yzak and Athrun, I'll deal with this last fly."

Nichol didn't bother to acknowledge, he just flew off to help his friends. The _Archangel _launched a third Skygrasper, this one was loaded with the Launcher Strike packs.

"Holy crap, how many of these damn jets do they have?" Ian wondered.

Both Graspers took off towards the furious mobile suit battle raging on the nearby island. Ian sighed and followed them.

The three ZAFT pilots were taking turns attacking Strike, hoping to win through attrition. It was Aegis' turn, and he came in swiping. Kira blocked them and knocked Aegis away with a hit from the pommel of the sword. Turning he swung the sword at Blitz, who dodged, but not in time to save his arm which held the Trikeros shield. Strike used the momentum from the cut and swung around in one spot, sword now aimed for Blitz's cockpit.

Duel rammed into Strike from behind, which pushed the sword lower, but Blitz was still hit. With both legs severed at the thighs, Nichol fired his thrusters to keep himself upright. The Launcher-Grasper fired its impulse cannon at Blitz, destroying the head and upper chest area of the Gundam. The remains fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Ian thought he saw Nichol scramble out of the cockpit just before it exploded.

"_Nichol!_" screamed Athrun, enraged.

Aegis threw the shield at the Launcher-Grasper as it flew towards the Gundams. The pilot had little time to react to the scarlet-colored object flying towards him. He inhaled in horror as the shield broke through the cockpit, crushing him and destroying the fighter with a large explosion.

"_TOLLE!_" Kira screamed.

"_I think we made him mad._" Yzak said sarcastically, blocking Kira's sword, and then slicing through it with his own beam saber.

Strike flew upwards to switch parts with the Aile-Grasper, then fired his beam rifle rapidly, separating Duel, Aegis and Slayer.

"_Ian, Yzak, go for the _Archangel _while it's defenseless! I'll take care of Strike!_" Athrun said, activating his arm's beam sabers and charging forward.

"_I guess there's nothing stopping us now._" Yzak said, now just outside the effective range of the Igelstellugs.

"_There's me!_" said an angry female voice.

"Huh?"

Both Ian and Yzak looked up to see another mobile suit. A red one that looked very similar to Strike in design, except it had another new Strike pack on.

"_Holy crap! That one's armed to the teeth!_" Yzak said, dodging a hail of bullets from her 30mm Gatling shield.

"_You don't stand a chance against my Strike Rouge and Integrated Striker Weapons Pack!_" she said, starting to laugh.

"Strike Rouge? How original!" Ian commented. He charged at the red Gundam, both beam sabers activated.

"_Ian, evasive!_" Yzak warned, but it was too late.

In Strike Rouge's right hand was a 9 meter sword, which promptly cut Slayer's right forearm off.

"Holy crap!" Ian gritted his teeth, pulling back to avoid the sword again.

The four cannons mounted above and below the shoulders of Strike Rouge swung into firing position and began to track the retreating Slayer. The female pilot gained a target lock and opened fire, bringing her Gatling shield back into play.

Rounds from the 115mm dual railcannons and the 110mm cannons whipped past Slayer, barely missing as Ian desperately dodged and ducked. Strike Rouge scythed her 6-barreled Gatling cannon back and forth, effectively trapping Slayer with a wall of fire.

The bullets weren't enough to penetrate his Phase-Shift armor, or even drain his power significantly, but when one or two railcannon rounds or cannon rounds connected, his armor started to fail.

"Yzak, get back to the ship ... warn them of the new circumstances." Ian said weakly, exhausted from his previous fights and lagging behind in avoiding the wrath and fury of Strike Rouge.

"_Like hell I'll retreat! Eat this!_" Yzak screamed, both beam sabers out.

Strike Rouge swung around to target Duel, but it was too late. Yzak sliced through the Gatling gun and backhanded Strike Rouge, sending the new Gundam off-balance. He fired his missiles, and then dodged the beam boomerang the pilot sent his way.

"Yzak! Behind you!" everyone always seemed to forget that boomerangs had the nasty habit of returning to their owners.

Yzak turned to see the boomerang heading right for him again, and blocked the projectile with his beam saber. Strike Rouge engaged its thrusters at full power, both anti-ship 9.1 meter swords drawn.  
Ian rushed forward, and stabbed Strike Rouge with his last beam saber, aiming for the cockpit. There was a small explosion that knocked him about, and when he looked up, he saw that ... he missed?

"But how?" he asked himself, shaking his head and clanging his helmet against something large and metallic.

Looking over, he saw the one of Strike Rouge's blades had penetrated his cockpit, barely missing him, most likely because of Ian's attack. He swore then fired his railguns several times at the enemy, knocking the Gundam away, but the sword was still embedded in his Gundam.

More machine-cannon fire got his attention, and both he and Yzak turned to see the last Skygrasper with the damaged Sword Striker parts firing at them.

"_Goddamned flies never know when enough is enough!_" Yzak yelled, foregoing his beam sabers and opting to punch the fighter away. The force of the blow damaged the engines and sent the craft tumbling towards an island.

The island where Kira and Athrun were fighting to the death.

"_KIRA!_"

"_ATHRUN!_"

Both pilots were evenly matched, striking one another in fury. Strike cut off Aegis' left arm at the shoulder and kicked the red Gundam away. Athrun promptly activated all of his beam sabers and kicked out at Strike's shield arm. The beam saber sliced the arm off, and then Kira stabbed through Aegis' head, skewering that part right off the Gundam.

Athrun sliced at Strike's cockpit, destroying the hatch but failing to kill the pilot inside. They continued to bash each other around until Aegis transformed into its mobile armor form and grabbed Strike in between its claws.

"_Let's see how you take a Scylla blast to the chest._" Athrun whispered.

Unfortunately his power reserves went critical and his Phase-shift shut down, leaving him with insufficient power to fire the devastating blast.

With no other options, Athrun typed in a few commands then punched the code '2887' on a console that popped out. Opening the hatch, Athrun activated his jetpack and flew away as the Aegis self-destructed with Strike in front of it.

"_Athrun!_"

Duel and Slayer closed in on the island, scanning for survivors.

"Wow, Strike's almost burned to crisp ..." Ian noted.

"_I found Nichol!_" Yzak announced.

_Well that's unexpected_. Ian thought.

* * *

A/N: Well Strike Rouge ... and the ISWP ... and another ass-kicking all round! R & R please! 


	8. Chapter 8: Survival

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish)._

**_RVD:_** Yes I have sped up the storyline, like I said earlier; it's a hybrid of the anime and the manga versions, plus a few 'deleted' scenes as it were.

**_Lipana:_** I am aware of the Gundam and SEED acronym (and apparently Destiny and Zaku are acronyms in SEED: Destiny as well ...). I realize that Orb created Strike Rouge (and actually is technically not a Gundam either) and the ISWP (which was in space with the Kusangi, but Cagalli couldn't get the hang of it). Freedom, Justice and Providence (though never shown) have Gundam stand for: Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Module ... Complex. P.S. Who says it was Cagalli piloting Rouge?

* * *

Chapter 8: Survival

C.E. 71 May 18th

Nichol was in critical but stable condition. His body was wrapped in soft white gauze bandages to help heal the severe burns. He was missing his right left below the knee and his lungs were damaged from the proximity of the leaking battery acids.

As soon as Yzak found the green-haired boy, he took him to their base, where he was immediately transferred to Victoria for medical treatment. He would soon be shipped back to his home PLANT to stay with his family until he recovered.

They had found no sign of Athrun, only pieces from the Aegis. Wherever he was, Ian hoped he was safe.

"_Incoming transmission!_" came an announcement.

Yzak and Ian looked at each other, confused. They raced to the communications tower to see a young blonde girl on the other line.

"_My name is Cagalli Yula from Orb. We found one of your pilots not far from our current location, and we are now en-route to drop him off._" she was saying.

"Is he allowed to talk?" the commander asked.

"_I am not a prisoner commander._" Athrun said, coming on-screen, his right arm in a sling.

"Mister Zala, good to see you alive and well. Very well Miss Yula, we will grant you permission to enter our airspace and drop Athrun off at the designated coordinates."

The blonde girl nodded, and then ended the transmission.

"It seems our missing pilot mystery has been solved. Yzak, hop in Duel and watch out for trouble. Ian, I'm sorry but with Slayer still down for repairs, you'll have to wait."

"Understood." both pilots said at once.

-

There were no complications with the Orb transport. It set down, Athrun got off and the transport took off again, presumably to head to Orb territory. Ian was on hand to greet Athrun while Duel was still patrolling incase something unlikely would come up.

"Good to have you back Athrun." Ian said.

Athrun merely nodded.

"Hurry up; if you're fast enough you can say good-bye to Nichol before they send him home."

That got Athrun's attention.

"Nichol is ... alive?" he asked.

"He's alive but in bad shape. The doctors expect him to live, but he'll never pilot a shuttle, much less a mobile suit, again." Ian replied, leading him towards Nichol's hospital room.

They arrived quickly, Athrun was anxious to see his friend at least one more time. Gazing upon his battered body hurt Ian every time, but Ian found the courage to do it again, at least for Athrun's sake.

"Nichol, buddy, I'm here now." Athrun said gently.

Nichol stirred, and a few mumbled words were uttered.

"You're .... al .. alive?" Nichol said drowsily.

-

Some time later, Athrun was in his own hospital bed, spending the night for testing purposes, to ensure he wasn't injured in any other way. Staring out the window intently, he almost didn't hear Commander Le Creuset knock.

"It's Le Creuset, I'm coming in." he said.

Athrun moved in surprise, turning to face his commander, ready to stand at attention.

"At ease Athrun," Creuset said, waving his hand.

"Commander I've ... I've failed you." Athrun said shamefully, his head hanging.

"No you haven't. You've punished someone who has taken many lives. You are considered a hero in your home PLANT. The lives that were lost are no longer lost in vain: Miguel, Rusty, Captain Bartfelt, Captain Zeruman. Even little Nichol can rest easier now, knowing that his attacker has been suitably punished."

"Commander ..." Athrun said, a little surprised.

"You are to be awarded the Order of the Nebula for your actions, and you are being transferred to Special Forces of the Ministry of National Security. You will pilot a brand-new Mobile Suit because you, Athrun Zala, are a Top Gun."

Athrun said nothing, still shocked at all of the news.

"You have heard that your honorable father, Patrick Zala, has been elected Chairman of the ZAFT National Council. Chairman Zala sincerely desires to end the war as quickly as possible."

"Father ..." Athrun said quietly.

"You will be transferred in a few days, and you will be going up with Nichol and Ian."

"What about Yzak?" Athrun asked, surprised that Ian was getting transferred as well.

"He has volunteered to fight the Alliance forces on the ground. Yzak is now a squadron leader. He too wishes to end the war, even if he has to sacrifice himself." Creuset explained.

-

"Transferred?!" Ian exclaimed.

"Yes, you are to command your own squadron at Jachin Due, once your unit is finished. Until then you are on shore leave." the attendant explained.

"So am I going up with Nichol?" Ian asked eagerly.

"Yes, he and Athrun are going up with you. Nichol's home PLANT isn't far off from Headquarters."

-

C.E. 71, May 23rd

"So long Yzak. Enjoy your stay, and don't get killed." Ian said, shaking hands with the silver-haired boy.

"Trust me, I'll be alive." Yzak replied.

"It doesn't help much, but I'm sorry Yzak. Thank you for all you have done. I appreciate it." Athrun said, shaking hands as well.

"Don't die, so next time you can be the subordinate." Yzak replied, smiling a little.

The pilots laughed, then left the Duel pilot and boarded their shuttle. The ramp retracted and the hatch sealed shut with a small hiss. Yzak walked back to the base, never looking back as the shuttle blasted off noisily.

"He's going to be lonely, with the three of us going back to space and Dearka MIA." Ian sighed.

"He's an independent person, he'll survive." Athrun replied, leaning back into his chair and closing his eyes.

Sleep was not an option for Ian, the last few battles he fought kept replaying in his head.

_Where did the Alliance get so many good pilots? Like the first pilot of the Lightning-Grasper, even the pilot of the Strike Rouge was skilled enough to keep up with a Coordinator. I know Athrun's friend is a Coordinator, but it's insane to think that more would join ..._Ian thought.

Something outside the view-port caught his attention.

"What the?" he asked. Athrun looked on in surprise as a Mobile Suit with a color scheme similar to the Strike Gundam's flew by at high-speed.

"He's in a hurry, where the massacre?" Athrun joked.

-

It wouldn't be until later that Athrun would find out just how much truth there was to his jest. The ZGMF-10A Freedom Gundam flew towards the ongoing slaughter at JOSH-A.

The ZAFT Operation Spit-Break finally went through, but the target was revealed to be the Joint Supreme Headquarters at Alaska instead of the Panama base. ZAFT had sent in triple the forces originally slated for the Operation, due in part to their loss of the Carpentaria base.

Then Yzak challenged the new Gundam. The duel was over quickly, Kira spared Yzak's life and instead of slicing the cockpit, he went for Duel's legs. A nearby DINN caught the falling Duel and whisked off to safety.

The pilot of Freedom sent out a broadcast warning all forces about the Cyclops system installed beneath the Alaskan base, which would annihilate everything within a 10 kilometer radius.

Some units retreated, but many stayed, even Earth Alliance forces. The Cyclops was activated and all hell broke loose.

-

Athrun was sent to report to Captain Yuki as soon as the docked, and Nichol was rushed to another shuttle to finally take him home. Ian was given no direction other than the instructions 'enjoy yourself', and planned to.

Banners of Lacus Clyne were hanging everywhere, giving the time and date of her upcoming concert. Ian chuckled; Athrun had it good; the concert was several days before he would be shipped out to his new unit.

It was his first time wearing civilian clothes since Heliopolis was destroyed. He wore black cargo pants, a grey t-shirt underneath a white sports jacket. His duffel bag was slung over his left arm, it contained his few possessions.

He was finally free, free of war, free of attacks, just free! Humming a tune, he started off towards the information center. The door chimed as it opened, letting the receptionist know someone was there.

"Can I help you?" she asked, somewhat disinterested.

"Well, yes. I'm new to PLANT and I wasn't given much in the way of instructions." he replied, walking up to the desk.

"And those were?"

"Huh? Oh, 'enjoy yourself' and 'wait for Lightning'. Kind of useless hey?" he repeated.

"Well I'll give you a list of hotels where you can stay, and a list of places to go shopping, or dancing, or whatever you like to do, and all of it will be within a 30 kilometer radius. I suppose that satisfies both of your orders?" she said, digging up several files on her computer.

"I hope so." he took the offered data chip and inserted it into his laptop, thanked her and left.

He picked the nearest hotel, hailed a taxi and gave the directions. Within minutes he was there, thanking the driver, he paid and entered the lobby.

"Welcome to the PLANT Luna. How long will you be staying?" asked the desk clerk.

"Actually I'm not sure." In truth he wasn't given a timetable, he might leave in 5 minutes or 5 weeks.

"Well then we'll set up a tab, and you can pay as you go or pay the lump sum at the end." The clerk said, listing some options.

"Lump sum sounds fine to me. Let me find my card first." Ian chose, and then scrounged around in his bag, looking for the card ZAFT had given him before he left Earth. Finally he found it.

"Aha! Found it! Here you go." He handed the card over to the clerk who, after examining it, gasped in surprise. Ian never took the time to inspect the card carefully.

"What? Is there a problem?" he asked, confused.

"There is no problem with a ZAFT Gold Card sir." Replied the clerk as he swiped the card and handed it back to Ian.

Ian thanked him, took his key and found his room. Opening the door, he set his stuff down, plugged his laptop into the power outlet and information jack, and then flopped on the bed for a short rest.

A sharp knock at his door woke him up and he looked at the time. The red numbers showed 9:21 PM. Ian had slept for several hours. Grumbling, he got up and opened the door.

A pair of Secret Service ZAFT agents was blocking the doorway. Ian stepped back in surprise, and then recovered.

"May I help you?" he asked politely.

"Mister Temk, you are hereby being issued this from Chairman Zala." said the first agent. The second handed him a small box. They turned and left a slightly bewildered Ian standing there.

"Ok ..." he said to himself, the opened the box.

Inside were several sealed envelops of different sizes and beneath that, a handgun in holster with several clips. He opened the envelope labeled '#1 Instructions'. Inside was a letter.

_To: Ian Temk_

_ZAFT Mobile Corps_

_C.E. 71, May 22nd_

_Dear Mr. Temk,_

_As per new orders, all pilots on leave are to be issued standard firearms. Carry it with you wherever you go, including when you pilot a mobile suit._

_From,_

_Secretary of Chairman Zala_

Ian wasn't sure why all pilots had to carry guns, but wasn't about to disagree. He opened the second letter.

_Lightning will be striking in less than a month. Be ready._

Still confused, he opened the third and final letter. It had several destinations crossed off of it. Heliopolis, _Prometheus_, Carpentaria, _Cousteau_, and finally PLANT.

_Ian,_

_I am alive and well, and I hope you can make it here to see me. Time will tell._

_Leah_

There was also a ticket inside, but he disregarded that as he stared at the hand-written signature.

_Leah_. His younger sister who had disappeared even before Heliopolis was destroyed. She had sent a letter to him, and it had followed all the way here. Finally he looked at the ticket. It was a ticket for an upper-section seat at Lacus' upcoming concert.

He re-read the letter until he fell asleep.

-

C.E. 71, May 24th

Early that morning, Siegel Clyne was killed, and an attempt was made on his daughter, Lacus' life. Blame was place on the Blue Cosmos anti-Coordinator group from Earth, and several Naturals were publicly executed. Lacus was nowhere to be found.

The concert was scheduled for today, but with all the commotion and the missing pop star, it was postponed indefinitely. He figured that Leah would wait for him anyways, and if she wasn't there, he was certain he would be contacted somehow.

But it wasn't supposed to start until 7:30 that night, and he had hours to burn. He decided to go shopping. There were many stores to choose from, and Ian wasn't quite sure what he wanted. Clothes or perhaps accessories of some kind, anything at all!

A nearby screen was showing video footage of the morning's assassination and the second attempt. Siegel Clyne's guards were killed quickly and the man himself didn't live much longer. After that apparently more guards were sent for Lacus' protection, but they may have ultimately failed in that task.

"A big fan o' Mistress Clyne are we?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Huh? I beg your pardon?" Ian was confused again.

"'Tis true, I can see the look on your face, plain as day 'tis!" he continued.

"Well I was supposed to go to the concert tonight, but now ..." Ian trailed off.

"Well cheer up good lad, they say her fiancé is on the case, searching for her and gathering information on the Cosmos people who did this." the man said, patting Ian's shoulder.

_Figures, Athrun was never one let things slide, especially when it comes to those he cares about._

Ian eventually settled on a semi-formal pair of black slacks and a nice shirt. Thanking the cashier, he left for some food. He was in the middle of eating some rice and beef when a bouncing navy-blue ball with an upside-down white mustache started to bounce around.

HARO! HARO GENKI! It said while moving rapidly.

Ian dodged the blue projectile, then shrugged and continued to eat. Finishing his meal, he returned to his room to rest and freshen up for his meeting. Finally it was time to leave. Slipping his coat on, he picked up his gun and stared at in, then holstered it inside his jacket and left.

-

_Since then_

_Just a tiny bit of time has elapsed_

_And the memories_

_Have only gotten sweeter to the last_

_On this quiet evening_

_I await your return_

_Come back_

_For the smiles_

_From those times_

_Now forgotten_

_The stars ..._

The soft, yet beautiful, singing that was heard stopped suddenly. The pink-haired girl clad in a blue dress looked up, expecting to see someone familiar.

"Hello Athrun." she said softly.

"Why did you betray us? Betray me? Why did you help a spy?" He demanded, pulling out his gun and pointing it at her.

"All I did was help a friend in need," she started, and when Athrun didn't interrupt, she continued. "Kira needed Freedom, more so than ever."

Athrun was speechless for a minute, then recovered.

"Lies! That's a lie, because Kira is dead! I killed him!" tears started to form in his eyes.

"He's not dead, he survived and Malchio brought him to me." She said calmly, standing up.

Athrun cocked the hammer on his pistol.

"Why do you fight Athrun Zala? Is it for medals? To follow your father's orders? Why Athrun Zala, why do you fight?" she asked him, advancing a few feet towards him.

"If you fight for the wrong reasons Athrun Zala, you gain enemies and lose everything."

More cocking sounds were heard as several men dressed in black stood up.

"Hand her over to us." One of them said, pointing his gun at Athrun.

Athrun's eyes narrowed and he moved in front of her protectively.

"No chance."

Several shots rang out, and two of the men in black dropped. The remaining men fired at Athrun and Lacus. He grabbed her and dodged behind some cover. More shots were heard, and then there was only one left. The last man stepped around the corner and raised his gun, but a single shot went through him, dropping him.

"Kira is on Earth Athrun Zala, and that's where you need to be. Even if it's just to talk to him, it's something that must be done."

Athrun nodded, and then took off towards the hangar where his mobile suit was stored.

Ian watched it all play out high up above. One of the secret service agents, who was wounded but not dead, jumped up and grabbed Lacus, pointing his gun at her head.

"Guns down or the girl dies." He spat.

Slowly, Lacus' saviors lowered their weapons. Ian stood up, drew his pistol and took aim at the man's head. The agent never saw Ian up there, and he didn't have time to react at Ian squeezed the trigger, releasing a bullet the hit the agent in the head.

The rest of them looked up to see Ian standing there, his gun still pointed at where the man was. Slowly he lowered his gun, and then started to leave.

"Sir! Please wait!" Lacus called out.

DaCosta looked at her in surprise, but he understood a little, after all, that boy had saved her life. Ian stopped and turned his head at the sound of Lacus' voice.

"Please sir, won't you come down here?" she asked seeing that he stopped.

Ian looked around once more, holstered his pistol and jumped off the upper balcony, landing easily on the floor below. He calmly walked up on stage, where the three soldiers were guarding Lacus in a triangular formation.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Lacus spoke up.

"Thank you for saving my life sir."

"Please, call me Ian." he replied, tiring of hearing 'sir'.

"Well then Ian, I must ask, how did you track me down? Are part of Athrun's unit?"

"Not any more, I'm on leave until further notice. But I was supposed to meet someone here, tonight."

"Oh? And who might that be?" she inquired politely.

"My sister, she sent the letter just before Heliopolis was destroyed, and it's been chasing me since, from one place to another."

One of her protectors stepped forward and took off his hat, or rather, her hat.

"I knew you'd make it big brother!" she said happily.

"Leah!" they embraced in a hug.

He put her down.

"I though you were dead, with your disappearance." he said.

Her reply was cut off by more gunfire. More ZAFT agents had found them. Ian whipped out his pistol and fired back, but was forced to take cover as a hail of bullets responded. Peering around the corner of his cover, he saw Leah take a bullet in the arm.

He dived from his cover and rolled in front of his sister. Ian fired a few shots for cover, and then pulled her back to safety. Reloading his weapon, he saw one of Lacus' guards throw two flash-bang grenades towards the agents.

Ian shut his eyes as the grenades went off.

"We've got to get out of here quickly!" one of them said.

"Go! I'll cover you!" Ian said. Leah looked at him in horror.

"I just found you! You can't leave me now." she said, on the verge of crying.

"I'll find you." he said, pushing her towards the other guards.

Ian saw one of the agents start to recover, so he took aim and dropped the man with a single bullet. He continued to fire as Lacus and the others left. Smiling, he reloaded again and dived out from his cover to spot any more agents. But the coast was finally clear, no more agents were shooting and everyone else had made it to safety.

Holstering his pistol again, he walked out of the building and to his hotel room. He checked his mail once he got there, finding one new message waiting for him. Opening the message he read the contents.

_Lightning is Ready. Berth 32A._ was all it said.

Shutting down his computer, he packed up and went downstairs.

"Mister Temk?" asked a man standing around in the lobby.

"That's me, something I can help you with?" he replied.

"Lightning awaits." said the man.

Ian raised his eyebrows in surprise. Apparently the High Council kept tabs on when Ian checked his mail. Shrugging, he followed the man and they got in a car and drove off. Berth 32A wasn't far from the hotel, and within 5 minutes they were there.

"Take these, and meet us inside." the man said, handing Ian a pilot's suit and a binder full of papers.

The man walked off, leaving Ian by himself. Finding a change room, Ian entered and swapped clothes for the suit, colored black with a large white lightning bolt starting from the left side of the helmet and moving downwards at an angle.

He was leafing through the binder as he walked down the hallway. Ian got to the technical specifications section just as he walked into the hangar.

"Ian, meet Lightning." the man said, catching Ian's attention and directing it to the mobile suit before him.

A pair of angel-like wings flowed behind the suit, meeting the shoulders with binders that must allow for maximum agility. The usual pair of CIWS Igelstellung head vulcans was present, but there were a pair of quadruple-barreled machine gatling cannons mounted in between the neck joint and the wing binders. A large beam rifle was held in the right hand, while a shield was present in the left. A pair of beam sabers, one on each hip, completed the visible armaments.

Ian stared in awe. The suit already had colors, and he wondered if the phase-shift was active.

"Its got an experimental phase-shift option, based off of early reports from Commander Le Creuset. The Earth Alliance calls it 'Trans Phase-Shift Armor'. It activates at the point of impact, and reduces the power required for the older phase-shift." the man explained, taking note of Ian eyeing the colors.

The suit was painted white all over with black around the forearms and hands, lower legs and feet, cockpit area and grill-plates on the head.

"Your second-in-command is using a prototype GuAIZ Arsenal mobile suit, due to his accomplishments in battle. The rest of your squadron uses CGUEs, and once the GuAIZ production starts in full swing, they'll start to replace the CGUEs."

"Right, then I'd better be off." Ian said, climbing into the cockpit.

The hatch closed, and all systems started up, but there was no G.U.N.D.A.M. acronym to greet him, instead only the ZAFT Armed Forces insignia. The cockpit sported a panoramic view, offering 360 degrees of sight.

"Ian Temk, Lightning, Launching!" he announced as cables disconnected and docking clamps retracted. The upper bay doors opened and Ian activated all of his many banks of powerful vernier thrusters, shooting upwards and quickly leaving behind the PLANT colony.

Setting his heading for the Jachin Due space fortress, he pushed the suit to full speed.

"Here I come." he said, rocketing through space.

* * *

A/N: Finally done! Sorry for the delay in updates, but several things came up. If you're wondering what Lightning looks like, picture Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz's Wing Zero, with a white and black paint scheme (see above description), and forget about the Twin Buster Rifle. It does have the standard Gundam eyes and extra cameras, but it's not actually a Gundam. More to come, hopefully soon.


	9. Chapter 9: Dueling Respect

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at Heliopolis, unbeknownst to the Earth Alliance, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish).

* * *

_**_RVD: _**Well thanks dude, you'll find out soon enough Ian's true loyalties

* * *

Chapter 9: Dueling Respect

C.E. 71, June 15th

Activity in space had dropped to an all-time low. The Earth Alliance reinforced its borders to prevent any more attacks in the near future. Production of the Strike Dagger mobile suit was expanded, and factories were set up on the moon.

Activity on Earth, by contrast, was at an all-time high. The introduction of the X131 Calamity, the X252 Forbidden and the X370 Raider Gundam had thrown the balance of power off. The mass-produced ZAFT mobile suits were no match for the power contained in the three suits, and added with the mass-produced Strike Daggers, many ZAFT offenses were halted in their tracks.

Despite having superior reflexes and greater mental abilities, the ZAFT forces were hard-pressed to keep up with the superior-quality Strike Daggers. But that didn't stop the battle-hardened veteran ZAFT mobile suit corps from striking decisive blows against the Earth Alliance.

ZAFT had received information that the Earth Alliance was planning to attack the nation of Orb, despite all they had done with developing the mobile suits. Still, ZAFT wasn't about to stop the destruction of an enemy that had sought destruction, so instead they pulled their forces back, to allow the EA fleet to approach unhindered.

Le Creuset had informed the High Council that the _Archangel_ had left the Earth Alliance. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for the attack on Orb. It was rumored that the daughter of Representative Athha, current ruler or Orb, was on the _Archangel_ and knew the pilot of Strike.

The _Archangel_ now had three operational mobile suits, the stolen Freedom Gundam; piloted by Kira, the Strike Gundam; pilot unknown, and the Strike Rouge; a knock-off of the Strike piloted by Flay Alster, one of the refugees from Heliopolis.

None of that really concerned Ian. Yzak was still down there, and Athrun was supposed to be there soon. The two elite pilots would give the Earth Alliance, and Orb if need be, a good run for their money.

"Temk Squad, form up, we're going home." Ian transmitted. To his right was Diane, promoted to Second thanks to her part in the destruction of the 8th Fleet months ago. She received a GuAIZ Firearms prototype, once a test-bed for the Freedom.

The CGUEs, painted in the standard colors formed up and the received clearance to land. Their patrol was fruitless as always, the action still on Earth.

"_Man, how many more times are we going to go out there?_" complained one pilot.

"_Shut it Vasily! We do our job and we don't complain!_" Diane cut in, shutting the pilot up.

In truth, Ian was a little anxious for some action as well. Almost a month had passed, and he had yet to test all of Lightning's systems. He was itching, but as the Squad commander, he had to lead by example.

"Any more complaints will warrant a days worth of pay docked, effective immediate." Ian said sternly, hoping to quell any more incessant whining.

"If you have any problems, see me in person." He added.

The rest of his squad members had run off somewhere, but Diane caught up to him in a hallway.

"Ian! I've got some good news! _Prometheus_ is on its way to Jachin Due for re-supply!" she said excitedly.

"Really? I haven't seen Fanel since I dropped to Earth." Ian replied. This really was good news.

"He's anxious to see you again as well. They'll be here in a couple of days."

Her watch started to beep.

"Crap, I've got an appointment, I'll fill you in on more of the details later." She said, running off.

-

C.E. 71, June 18th

The _Prometheus_ slid into her docking bay with ease; the pilot was well trained and well experienced. Boarding tubes were extended and connected in several places to allow easy access for the station crew and the ship's crew.

Ian and Diane were among the officers on-hand to greet the _Prometheus_ and grant permission to come aboard.

"Commander Fanel of the _Prometheus_ requesting permission to come aboard sir." Fanel said, saluting. Behind him was Captain Hashagowa, saluting as well.

"Permission granted. Commander, Captain, welcome to Jaching Due." The officer said, returning the salute then walking away.

"Fanel! Good to see you again." Ian said, catching their attention.

"Well I'll be! Ian Temk, I haven't seen you since you dropped with the Le Creuset team." Fanel replied.

"Captain Hashagowa." Ian said.

"Good to see you alive my boy. And I see another familiar face." The Captain was referring to Diane.

"Well, just another old fashioned reunion. So what brings the two of you to Jachin Due? Re-supply stop as well?" Fanel asked, starting to walk.

"Ian and I are stationed here. I'm his Second." She replied, moving along with the group.

"Hah, I knew you'd get promoted soon enough. Congratulations." Hashagowa said.

"Thank you Captain, but we got our asses handed to us a few times down there, it wasn't easy." Ian said.

"I'll bet. I read the debriefing reports, sounded like a helluva fight." Fanel said, laughing lightly.

They continued to talk, walking to the mess hall to get something to eat. As they ate, Ian gave them all a first-hand accounting of all the battles between the Le Creuset team and the Strike Gundam, and then went a little less in-depth about the Clyne incident and Lightning.

Diane was next, and she told them about her duties after the annihilation of the 8th Fleet. They kept her busy. She went into more detail about her prototype GuAIZ Firearms suit, and the development of Freedom and Justice.

Fanel was about to speak when the general quarters alarm was sounded.

"_All personnel we have a Level 2 Alert, repeat we have a Level 2 Alert._"

Hashagowa and Fanel raced back to the _Prometheus_, to ready the great ship for launch, while Diane and Ian reported to the Pilot Briefing Room. The Mission Planning officer was there soon after to inform them of what was going on.

"Long range sensors have picked up an Earth Alliance Fleet heading our way. We can safely assume there will be Strike Daggers suits and Moebius mobile armors, but the numbers are unknown. There are confirmed reports of at least two _Agamemnon_-class battlecruisers, and several 250meter-class and 130meter-class ships."

"And our orders?" Ian asked.

"We're not sure of their objective yet, but they can't be planning much with only one fleet versus the entire defense force of Jachin Due."

The pilots began to talk among themselves. What was the point of attacking the greatest ZAFT stronghold in space with only a single fleet? The Calamity, Forbidden and Raider were still on Earth, battling the Freedom, Strike, Strike Rouge and Justice, so what did the Earth Alliance have up its sleeve?

"The Sikorsky Squad, Temk Squad, Aleong Squad and Bohaychuk Squad will launch at once to deal with the fleet. The Addington Squad, Gantz Squad and Nomi Squad will be on standby. Report to your suits!"

The pilots saluted and left to board their suits. Ian was running through his checklist when a voice came over the intercom.

"_Sikorsky Squad, launch!_"

One by one, the 8 members of the Sikorsky Squad, made up of CGUEs launched. Ian completed his checklist and received confirmations that his squad was fully operational.

"_Temk Squad, launch!_"

Ian launched first, followed by Diane, then the other 6 members. After his Squad were the Aleong Squad and finally the Bohaychuk Squad. They set up a perimeter close to the long range sensor buoys, giving them enough time to spot the fleet and report.

"_Targets sighted, Yellow 3, Alpha 1, Mark 5._" One of Ian's pilots reported.

Before Ian could reply, a group of Strike Daggers equipped with booster packs swarmed their position. Two CGUEs from the Sikorsky Squad fell to the surprise attack.

"All units, break by pairs and attack at will!" Ian ordered. Diane armed her all of her weapons, detached her backpack and used it as a sub-lifter.

"Watch your power consumption Diane, as much as I'd want to rescue you, I'd hate to see you run out of power." Ian warned.

"_That's why the Phase-Shift Armor was removed in favor of reinforced armor and a few more battery packs. But you don't have an N-Jammer Canceller or a Fission Reactor so you should watch out as well._" Diane said.

"I will, but at least most of my weapons don't guzzle energy. You think you can keep up with Lightning on that backpack of yours?" he taunted.

"_Try me._"

Ian laughed, then armed his large-caliber beam rifle and fired up all of his thrusters, pouring on all speed to meet his enemy head on. Diane followed, hot on his heels.

Two Strike Daggers fired at Lightning, but Ian tapped the thrusters lightly to roll left and out of their aim. Diane fired her railcannons at the two Alliance suits, destroying them both.

Ian fired at another group of passing Strike Daggers, destroying one and damaging another. As they turned to face him, he boosted upwards then dived at them firing his machine gatling cannons as he went. The armor-piercing bullets penetrated the armor of the Strike Daggers, and in some case, penetrated all the out the other side.

He was already choosing more targets as the Daggers were exploding. The battle was over not much later. The ZAFT forces had few losses, but the mystery still remained as to why a single Earth Alliance fleet would attack Jachin Due. Nonetheless Ian enjoyed the chance to test Lightning in combat, and he was impressed with his new unit.

But a nagging thought kept recurring to him, where was the Slayer? Command had told him nothing of the status of his former unit, save that it was under repairs. He had heard no rumors about anyone piloting it, and there was nothing anywhere about its whereabouts.

-

C.E. 71, August 10th

Though the disappearance of his old mobile suit still troubled him, Ian's work was usually more than enough to distract him from his worries. The commander of the Sikorsky squad, a buff Polack by the name of Mariuz, was receiving the two replacement pilots for those lost in the battle over a month ago.

Commander Le Creuset sent a report detailing the fall of Orb, the nation that had helped the Earth Alliance develop the first five G-units. The Alliance claimed their attack was justified, saying that Orb harbored traitors and returned ZAFT prisoners.

Ian guessed that Athrun's return had been discovered by their command, and they didn't like it. There was something about sightings of the Justice and Freedom, working together to fight off the hordes of Strike Daggers and the three new Alliance units; Forbidden, Raider and Calamity.

Orb had developed their own mobile suits to defend themselves, but such a reason could easily be misconstrued and warped to preemptive attack. The _Archangel_ and another ship had launched into space using Orb's mass driver, and after that, the ruler, Uzumi Yula Athha had self-destructed the entire facility, mass driver included.

Yzak returned to space, his orders were to take command of the entire Jachin Due Mobile Suit Force. Ian was there to greet Yzak, much as he was there to greet Fanel and the _Prometheus_.

"Welcome back to space Yzak." Ian said saluting.

"That would be Commander Yzak to you, Ian." Yzak said, returning the salute.

"So what's new with Commander Yzak?" Ian asked, putting emphasis on the 'commander'.

"The usual, but Athrun turned traitor and joined the renegade _Archangel_. I heard you are piloting a brand new suit. What's it like?"

"She's the ZGMF-L01 Lightning; Prototype Close Combat Attack suit, equipped with a lot of verniers. Think of Duel with big wings." Ian explained.

"Another Gundam? How many did the Council make?" Yzak asked, shaking his head.

"Actually, it's going to be a mass-produced suit, mine's the first, but it does have the same sensors as the five we captured, and the Freedom and Justice, dual eyes, extra cameras elsewhere." Ian corrected.

Yzak chuckled a bit, and then continued.

"Any reports on Dearka?" he asked, a little downcast suddenly.

"I don't think anything has been mentioned, other than he's MIA. Commander Le Creuset didn't include anything in his reports he's sent up. Sorry Yzak." Ian replied.

"Well, Dearka's a big boy; he can take care of himself. Who's got your old Slayer now?" Yzak quickly changed the subject.

"Actually I've been wondering that as well. I thought you might now, last I heard it was getting repaired on Earth, and that was right before I was transferred." Ian said, now more confused about his first mobile suit.

"Hmm, well then, who's your second in command? I heard she's good looking." Yzak said with a smirk.

"Looks like Dearka's habits are rubbing off on you. She's from the _Prometheus_, and she was promoted after the annihilation of the 8th Fleet. Her name is ..."

A female voice interrupted Ian. "Diane Madu. And you are?"

Ian and Yzak turned to see Diane coming up the hallway behind them.

"Yzak Jule, new Commander of the Jachin Due Mobile Suit Force." He said with authority.

_Geez woman, he's not here for 10 minutes and you're already going head to head with the most stubborn person born._ Ian cringed.

Diane faltered at hit title, but quickly saluted. Yzak waited for a moment, and then saluted back. Ian let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Perhaps, Ian, you should teach your subordinates some semblance of respect." Yzak said, biting off the words.

"Aye sir." Ian said.

"Perhaps the superior pilot should be the one to teach some respect." Diane said.

Ian and Yzak looked at her with bewildered looks.

"I'M the better pilot." They both said together. Diane suppressed a giggle as both pilots looked at each other.

"You are not!" they said.

This time Diane couldn't contain her laughter.

"Fine then, my Duel versus your Lightning, 20 minutes in sector 2A." Yzak said, walking off and muttering curses about women.

-

The Lightning floated in space, awaiting the signal to begin the duel. Their computers had been programmed for the simulation, and their weapons were loaded with paintballs. When hit, the computer would register the attack and shut down anything that might have been damaged. Their beam sabers had their power reduced to 20, enough to score the paint job, but very little else.

No holds barred, no rules, just an all out fight. Everyone off duty was watching and placing bets on the two pilots. Bets were placed on who would win, and there would be a lot of money changing hands at the end of the duel.

Even those on duty were calling up images of the two units about to fight. Finally the signal to begin was given.

Yzak launched out of his hiding place, boring ahead at full speed to find Ian. Ian was still floating in space, but he had the wings on Lightning folded back to hide them from Yzak. When Duel got within several kilometers, Ian unfolded his wings.

"_What the hell are those Temk?_" Yzak demanded.

"Find out for yourself." Ian replied, starting up his banks of verniers.

Lightning leapt forward as Yzak fired several times with both the beam rifle and his railgun. Ian pulled up to avoid the incoming shots and opened up with his machine gatling cannons. Duel dodged to the right and fired again, missing his target at Lightning dodged at full speed.

Ian smiled as he gained a target lock on Yzak, and then opened fire with his own beam rifle. Yzak blocked one shot with his shield and dodged the other as he holstered his rifle and pulled out a beam saber. Ian dodged the first attack and blocked the second, and then fired everything he had.

Yzak blocked most of the shots, but several gatling rounds made it past to impact on his armor. The quantum computer in Duel registered the hits, but there was no major damage to impede the suit's performance.

The two ace pilots continued their fight, both sustaining damage at an almost equal rate. Everyone watching was cheering wildly, barely caring who was winning and who was losing most of the time. They had been at it for over 40 minutes, and still going strong.

By now Ian had 'lost' the lower portion of Lightning's right leg, and had sustained damage to his armor. Yzak's railgun was damaged beyond use and his missiles were expended. Duel also was 'missing' his left arm, which consequently held the beam-coated shield.

Ian was running out of power for the beam rifle, so he ejected it and pulled one of his beam sabers. His shield was beat up, but still mainly in one piece and for now was capable of taking Yzak's blows. Duel charged again and Ian responded it kind, charging forward and unleashing a hail of machine gatling rounds at Yzak.

Yzak barely dodged, letting more and more rounds impact. Though the damage was minimal at the time, it added up through attrition, and right now Ian was pouring it all on.

The two closed to close combat range and the beam sabers clashed together forcefully. Finally one of Duel's critical systems shorted out, allowing Ian to brush Yzak's last beam saber aside and finally 'behead' the first-generation stolen suit. Both quantum computers declared Ian the winner, and diagnostics of the simulated damage were transmitted to each pilot, and to the lounges where the crews looked on in awe.

"_You cheated._" The words startled Ian out of his almost trance-like state.

"Care to explain how?"

"_There's no way bullets can do that much damage to my phase-shift armor, and you don't have that feature either, so you should have taken more damage!_" Yzak accused.

"It's called Trans-Phase Shift, and my machine gatling cannons are perfectly capable of taking you down. Face it, I'm a better pilot." Ian explained and bragged.

Yzak didn't reply, and Ian got the feeling that the Commander of the Jachin Due Defense Force would be mad at a lowly squadron commander.

"_Don't forget to teach your second some respect._"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I was busy yet again, plus I couldn't decide who should win: Duel or Lightning. With this chapter done, I plan on only one more to wrap the war up, and then it's onto something else (maybe I can get into my "Phase Zero" more). Until Chapter 10!


	10. Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today

Kido Senshi Gundam SEED: The sixth Gundam.

By: Prayer Reverie

Contact: prayerreverie(at)yahoo(dot)com

**Summary: A sixth Gundam was developed at ****Heliopolis****, unbeknownst to the Earth ****Alliance****, Orb or ZAFT. AU for changing the SEED storyline and because of Destiny's confirmation.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED in any which way (although some days I wish)._

A/N: Thanks to everyone who read Gundam SEED: The Sixth Gundam, and special thanks to all those who reviewed. Keep an eye out for more works done by me in the near future.

* * *

**_Lipana:_** ... well ... what can I say ... I suppose I could lie to you.

**_RVD:_** It was a close call between Duel and Lightning, maybe I should write an alternate ending for Chapter 9. It's gonna be a long chapter.

**_Lt.Bradford:_** Developer Interview? Thanks, I try my best.

* * *

Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today

C.E. 71, September 3rd

3 weeks had passed since the fight between Yzak and Ian, and in 3 weeks, the _Archangel_ had returned to space, Orb was overrun and destroyed, the _Vesalius_ was destroyed while engaging the _Archangel_ and a new Earth Alliance ship, the _Dominion_, same type as the _Archangel_.

The Buster Gundam was spotted with the _Archangel_, which infuriated Yzak to no end, knowing that his friend's mobile suit was being used. But perhaps the most troubling thing, at least to Ian, was the fact that the Earth Alliance had not five minutes ago launched a nuclear attack against the space fortress of Boaz.

Ian and Yzak could only guess at how the Earth Alliance managed to obtain plans to the Neutron Jammer Canceller, but this put both sides at virtually the same positions right before the war officially began. The PLANTs were no longer safe, nor were any Coordinators.

Nuclear attacks were not the only stunning revelation to the ZAFT forces, news of the _Eternal_, a ship designed to carry the Freedom and Justice units into battle, had gone renegade, apparently joining the _Archangel_ and the Orb ship _Kusangi_. The _Eternal_ also carried two METEOR units, and provided both Freedom and Justice the ability to destroy entire fleets.

"Fellow soldiers, today we have taken a blow, our pride defense force Boaz is no more. The Earth Alliance has regained the use of nuclear missiles, and in a cowardly attack they have destroyed the Boaz asteroid. We believe their next target will be PLANT." Yzak informed the gathered pilots.

"We believe this because the leader of Blue Cosmos, Murata Azrael, is onboard the newest Earth Alliance ship. The entire Jachin Due fleet will sortie in a valiant attempt to stop the next attack and destroy their fleets. I will be leading my squad into battle." He continued.

"We have confirmed intelligence reports that the three newest models of mobile suits will be in the upcoming battle. The Forbidden, Calamity and Raider suits, each a match for our suits and their pilots are somehow on our level, or in some cases, above our level."

"Yet we are not the bad guys, as it is. We fight this war to defend our people, our homes and our way of life. We have had to do things that may seem appalling, but in order to survive, they must be done. Always remember: we will survive, and that is winning in itself."

The pilots cheered as they boarded their suits. Ian caught up to Yzak.

"Nice speech, it really got the blood pumping." Ian said.

"It was necessary. Whatever happens, don't let them touch PLANT." Yzak ordered, and then left to board the Duel.

"_Jule Squad launch!_"

"_Sikorsky Squad launch!_"

"_Aleong Squad launch!_"

"Temk Squad launch!"

"_Bohaychuk Squad launch!_"

One by one each squad launched from Jachin Due and set a course to intercept the incoming Earth Alliance fleets. The Natural fleet quickly deployed all of their GAT-01 Strike Daggers in response. The fight was on.

Ian was busy wading through the Daggers with his squad when Yzak opened a channel to him.

"_Temk! They've launched Moebius' armed with nuclear missiles!_" he cried out.

Ian switched to his squad broadcast channel.

"Temk Squad form up! We're joining the Jule Squad and going Mobile Armor hunting!" he ordered. Almost instantly the other 7 members were in position.

"Temk Squad accounted for Commander Yzak. Let's go!"

"_Jule Squad, Temk Squad, Aleong Squad, follow me!_"

The 24 mobile suits took off towards the unopposed mobile armors. Escorting the outdated fighters were the three Earth Alliance Gundam units; Forbidden, Calamity and Raider.

The pilot of Calamity fired all of his many weapons into the heart of the ZAFT formation, nearly obliterating the Aleong Squad.

"Steve report!" Ian demanded.

"Unit ...... can't go ..... luck .... Victory ...." Static ate at the squad leader's words.

Yzak and his squad rushed forward to get in close to the Calamity. The pilot of Forbidden intercepted several beams with his Geschmeidig Panzer shields and fired back, scattering the ZAFT suits.

"_Orga you almost hit me!_" cried the pilot of the Raider.

"_Shut up Crot! It's not my fault you suck as a pilot!_" Orga replied.

Despite the obvious internal strife between the three Alliance pilots, they were still more than a match for most of the ZAFT pilots attempting to oppose them. Even Diane was unable to dodge all of Raider's fire.

"Diane, pull back!" Ian ordered.

The heavily damaged GuAIZ Firearms retreated and a CGUE from the Aleong Squad escorted her back. Soon enough the Forbidden switched to close combat mode, its scythe and railguns at the ready.

Two of Yzak's GuAIZ were hit by the Forbidden's arcing plasma induction cannon and exploded. Yzak himself was under a heavy barrage from both Raider and Calamity when Ian engaged.

All three Earth pilots turned to see the Lightning swoop in, wings fully deployed. Ian quickly fired his gatling cannons at the Raider, forcing Crot away from Yzak. Orga fired his dual cannons at Ian, who dodged one beam and blocked the other with his shield. Raising his beam rifle, Ian fired at Shani, forcing the Forbidden to block the beams.

Yzak recovered from the onslaught and starting pressing the attack on Calamity. Seeing that Forbidden had gained a lock on Yzak, Ian barreled forward, twirling through space to avoid the Raider. Shani turned to in time to see Lightning ram into the Forbidden, sending the close combat suit flying.

"_Get the missiles!_" Yzak yelled.

Ian turned to get a lock but went evasive because Crot sent his hammer flying at Ian.

"_Justice? And Freedom? How?_" Yzak asked.

Ian was about to ask Yzak to clarify when multiple explosions went off in front of the PLANTs. Both Justice and Freedom equipped with the METEOR support system had avoided the three Earth units and gone after the nuclear missiles. Both pilots managed to down them all.

A second wave of Moebius' came in and launched their missiles, and by now the Strike, Strike Rouge and Buster had arrived to help clean up the missiles. Yzak got several shots off, downing at least two nuclear missiles.

Ian switched his beam rifle for a beam saber when a message popped up on one of his secondary screens.

'GENESIS is about to fire, clear the area of emission' it read.

"_Freedom, Justice! Get clear, Genesis is about to fire!_" Yzak warned.

Scant 30 seconds later the massive GENESIS cannon let its Mirage Colloid particles disperse and activated its phase shift feature.

_Holy crap, that's bigger than the plans suggested it was._ Ian thought.

A target lock was gained and the massive array fired.

-

Yzak and Ian sat in the pilots lounge, waiting for the call to launch. Everyone on the battle field had stopped their actions when Genesis fired at the heart of the Earth Alliance fleet, ripping it apart.

Patrick Zala had broadcasted a victory speech seconds after the array had stopped firing. The speech served to infuriate the Naturals and give even more hope to the Coordinator forces. While the ZAFT forces rested, another mirror block was being positioned in front of the main array of Genesis.

The mechanics took used all of the time available to rearm and repair as many suits as possible. The Jule Squad and Temk Squad would be temporarily merged together to make up for losses gained in the last battle.

Yzak was brooding something, so Ian spoke up.

"Yzak, I'm sure that was Dearka piloting the Buster out there, and not some Natural."

Yzak looked up, but didn't respond.

"I'm sure he has a good reason for joining the Clyne Faction, perhaps something he discovered on Earth."

The silver-haired pilot got up and left, probably to walk his anger off. Just as the doors closed, Ian heard Yzak say "Mother!". Ian shrugged and figured at least Ezaria Jule could calm Yzak down.

The battle started again, the reinforced Natural fleets collided with the Jachin Due Defense Fleet in a hectic clash. Yzak stood by a window, watching as the battle resumed. He turned as he heard Ian approaching.

"Somewhere out there," he started "are a bunch of Naturals ready to wipe out all of the PLANTs."

"And somewhere out there are the people ready and willing to die to protect their loved ones and friends." Ian replied.

"Including traitors and deserters."

"We've been over this time and again Yzak, I'm sure that"

Yzak cut Ian off quickly.

"Yes they have their reasons, just as I have my reasons. Justice and Freedom are considered enemies of ZAFT."

Whatever Yzak was going to say next was cut off by an announcement

"_Standby for Genesis, all units clear the area of emission._"

"That's our cue Commander Jule." Ian said before turning and walking off towards the hangar.

Ian and Yzak were prepping their suits when the Genesis cannon fired again, this time at the Ptolemaeus lunar base, wiping it off the moon and destroying the reinforcements heading for the Natural fleet.

The Peacemaker Mobile Armor squad launched as the rest of the Jachin Due Defense Force sortied.

"_Jule Squad Launch! Yzak Jule, Duel, Launching!_"

"Ian Temk, Lightning, Launching!"

"_Diane Madu, GuAIZ, Launching!_"

"_Shiho, GuAIZ, Launching!_"

All of the mobile suits in the newly combined squad launched in quick succession. They had barely gone beyond 400 mark when they picked up the incoming Moebius units.

"_They're here! Spread out and take them, and don't let any of them touch PLANT!_" Yzak ordered.

The rest of the squad acknowledged as they spread out and increased their speed to meet their adversaries. The Freedom and Justice, both equipped with the METEOR system, sped towards the nuclear-equipped Peacemaker units.

"_How can you fire these things with no objections!?_" the pilot of Freedom cried out.

_Odd, he sounds a lot like the pilot of the Strike Gundam we faced._ Ian mused.

A seed exploded in Kira's mind, sending him into seed mode. The nuclear missiles were released, but Freedom targeted at least half of the missiles and fired all of his many weapons, taking them out in staccato of explosions.

Yzak turned to see the explosions as a seed exploded in Athrun's mind, allowing the Justice to destroy the remaining missiles. The Raider flew past Yzak, firing as he went. Quickly turning again, Crot fired again until his shots connected with the back of Duel.

"_I've got you!_" Crot yelled as he charged his Scylla cannon.

Something hit the back of the Raider, sending him flying. Yzak turned to see Dearka in the Buster floating there, his cannons pointing at the space the Raider had recently vacated.

"_Dearka ..._" Yzak said, surprised.

The Moebius' fired more nuclear missiles. Athrun turned to destroy them, but Shani in the Forbidden had other plans. Charging forward, Shani blocked a beam saber attack from Athrun. The pair of Mobile Suits twisted and turned, with Athrun attempting to get past Shani's defenses as the nuclear missiles sped past them towards the PLANTs.

Ian took up the slack, destroying several of the missiles with pinpoint accuracy as the Strike Rouge, equipped with the IWSP started destroying the rest of them.

"Is that the Strike Rouge? Then that must be the same pilot ..." Ian said quietly.

"Thanks for the assist Red. I didn't think there was anything stopping them now." Ian transmitted.

"_There's always me._" She replied as something was dredged up from her memories.

_That IS her!_ Ian realized.

"_Slayer! You'll pay for all that you've done in the past!_" she suddenly said.

"Oh shit, she remembered." Ian breathed.

Ian attached his beam rifle to his shield and pulled out a beam saber as the Strike Rouge started to fire on him again. Quickly dodging all of the shots, Ian turned and raced towards the Strike Rouge, hoping to disable her.

"I'm not your enemy!" he said to her, slashing down at her.

"_You're a Coordinator, fighting with other Coordinators. That makes you the enemy._" She replied, dodging his attack and throwing her beam boomerang at him.

"Damn it! Kira, Athrun, Dearka and Lacus are all Coordinators! And they're your allies and shipmates!" he said, blocking the boomerang with his shield and destroying it with his head vulcans.

Rushing forward, he sliced through her six-barreled shield mounted gatling gun and opened fire with his gatling cannons. He barely paid attention to the two _Archangel_-class battleships fighting each other in the distance.

"_Flay, pull back to support the _Archangel"

_Flay huh? Sounds almost familiar_.

"_Damnit Yamato, I'm busy right now with Slayer!_" she said in anger.

"_Miss Allster, pull back to the _Archangel_, Ian isn't a bad guy!_" Athrun cut in.

Flay ignored both pilots, and started her attacks anew, opening fire with her rail cannons and gun cannons.

_Even my new Trans-Phase wouldn't be able to withstand the punishment she's dishing out!_ Ian dodged a few more shots, then turned and flew towards the Genesis array at full speed.

"_Don't think you can escape me in the middle of your defense force Slayer!_" she yelled, throttling up to follow him.

-

Kira destroyed more of the nuclear missiles while Athrun kept Crot off Freedom's back. Dearka nailed the last two nuclear missiles and started his way back to the fight when Forbidden fired his arcing plasma induction cannon. Lacking a shield to block the beam, Dearka couldn't dodge in time.

Yzak slid between Buster and the incoming beam, blocking it and firing twice on Forbidden, to no effect. Dearka was stunned, but docked his gun launcher with his beam rifle and fired at Shani. The anti-armor shotgun rounds impacted on Shani's shield, blinding him momentarily.

Duel drew a beam saber and charged forward. Unfortunately Shani recovered and fired his plasma cannon again, hitting Yzak. An explosion rocked Dearka and Shani, and left Dearka shocked again. Yzak charged out of the remains of his assault shroud and shield, both beam sabers drawn.

Screaming in rage, Yzak sliced through both of Forbidden's arms before stabbing the other beam saber straight through the cockpit, killing Shani instantly.

"_Shani!_" Orga cried out.

Ian was able to dodge all of the pitiful shots Flay sent out, and both of them passed the Providence and its funnels firing at Strike, inflicting some major damage.

"_Major La Flaga!_" Flay cried out.

_I wonder who's in Providence? I think Le Creuset was slated for piloting it, but no news was heard about it._

"_Go Flay! I can handle Le Creuset alone!_" Mu replied, dodging several more beams before losing his beam rifle in an explosion.

-

Freedom ignited both of his massive beam sabers, swiping downwards at the Calamity. Orga blasted his thrusters, propelling him backwards, and right into Justice's beam sabers. The massive beam sliced through the cockpit area, separating the upper and lower torso.

Dearka fired his docked gun launcher, destroying one of the _Agamemnon_-class ships that carried the nuclear missiles. Yzak flew up to the bridge of another, firing his rifle-mounted grenade at the bridge, destroying it completely. Kira fired all of his weapons again; taking down a 250meter class ship as Justice ignited his beam sabers again, taking down a third _Agamemnon_.

Kira ignited his own beam sabers and sliced through the last _Agamemnon_, ending the threat of more nuclear attacks. Freedom and Justice were sent off to support the _Eternal_ and _Kusangi_, while Duel and Buster stayed behind.

Both the _Archangel_ and the _Dominion_ were damaged, missing Gottfried cannons, Lohengrin positron blaster cannons, and Valiant linear guns. The Strike retreated from the fight with Providence and Le Creuset, heading for the _Archangel_.

Azrael started charging the starboard side Lohengrin on the _Dominion_, targeting the bridge of the _Archangel_, despite Captain Natarle Badgiruel's attempts to stop the racist man. The fully charged positron blaster cannon fired, and the _Archangel_ was too close to dodge.

Everyone on the bridge backed into their seats at the powerful beam approached. A mere meter from the bridge the beam was intercepted by the damaged Strike.

"_I knew that I could make ... the impossible ... possible._" Mu stammered out, as the damaged mounted. Finally the powerful beam was too much for the shield and Strike to handle. The Strike exploded, taking the Lohengrin beam with it.

"_MU!!!_"

The explosion cleared and there was very little left of the first-generation suit. The _Archangel_ charged its own Lohengrin and fired at the _Dominion_, exacting revenge for the loss of Strike and Mu La Flaga.

Ian entered one of the supply tunnels of the Genesis array as Flay called out.

"_Major La Flaga!_"

-

A series of explosions caught Ian's eyes right before the Strike Rouge entered, chasing after him. Ian quickly figured out that either the _Archangel_ or the _Dominion_ had been destroyed, and perhaps another mobile suit also. Near misses from the Strike Rouge pinged against the walls.

Ian turned around and reversed thrust, flying backwards as fast as he would forwards and opened fire with his gatling cannons. The damage Flay received was negligible and she returned fire with her gun cannons and rail cannons.

The service tunnel ended and Ian jetted upwards to avoid her shots, and opened fire again as she exited the tunnel. Blocking the shots with her almost useless shield, Flay drew one of her swords and charged upwards, body checking Lightning through a wall and into another corridor.

Ian batted Flay away with his shield, and then fired his thrusters up to max. Flay pushed off the wall she hit and pushed her thrusters to full as well.

"Flay! Stop it!" Ian yelled.

"_Die Ian!_" she yelled back.

The two suits collided and an arm was sliced off and went flying. Flay opened her eyes and dropped the suit into a kneeling stance as Ian turned around.

"_Why did you spare me? I'm your enemy!_" Flay demanded.

"That's what created this war in the first place. You are not my enemy, Flay Allster." Ian replied, sheathing his beam saber and flying out.

Flay started to cry as she was left alone, just her and the Strike Rouge, minus the right arm.

-

Justice and Freedom flew onwards towards the Genesis array, the _Eternal_ and _Kusangi_. Rau Le Creuset, having found the remains of the Strike, chose the _Archangel_ as his target instead. Kira caught something familiar, and quickly veered off course, heading back to the _Archangel_.

"_Kira!_" Athrun said, surprised at his friend's decision.

"_Something's come up. Continue on course._" Kira replied, flying as fast as he could towards the _Archangel_.

Flay exited the Genesis array, also plotting a course for the _Archangel_.

Rau came upon Dearka, who raised his hyper rifle and fired at the Providence.

"_Is that a friendly unit? I've never seen that kind of frame._" Yzak said.

Rau easily dodged the shot and deployed his funnels, just as Kira came into firing range. Kira fired his dual plasma cannons, and Rau dodged again. Freedom ignited one of its beam sabers and swiped at Providence, which again, easily dodged.

The funnels seemed like they were acting on their own, firing at Dearka.

"_What the?_" he said in shock.

Dearka fired his missiles, but the rapid fire beams shot them down and blew off Buster's head and right arm. Kira avoided the shots aimed at him, twisting and turning.

"_Dearka!_" Yzak said, flying up to Dearka.

Kira dodged more shots as the Strike Rouge came into range.

"_Kira!_" Flay said.

More funnels came after Kira, who rolled and dodged, then fired most of his missiles at the Providence. The funnels fired, creating a web of beam fire that caught and destroyed most of the missiles. Rau pulled back as a second web was formed, destroying the rest of the missiles. Almost jumping out of the explosion, Rau fired, hitting one of Kira's beam sabers on the METEOR.

Ejecting the damaged part, Kira ignited his other beam saber and sliced at Rau, who again dodged. This time Rau ignited his own beam saber and sliced through Kira's second, forcing the young pilot to eject the other part.

The funnels resumed their assault, forcing Kira into a temporary retreat.

-

With his new knowledge, Ian avoided most of the fighting. Anything he couldn't avoid, he took the more pacifistic approach, aiming for the arms and heads of mobile suits, seeking only to disable them rather than destroy.

Ian was trying to support Yzak, wherever he was, but with all of the battles he was waging, it was going to take a while to get there. Several explosions occurred behind him, and he turned to see what had happened. There was a shimmer in space, and the Slayer uncloaked.

"What the?"

"_Ian? Is that you?_" asked a female voice.

"Leah! How did you get Slayer?"

-

Rau continued to fire at Kira with his beam rifle. Freedom avoided the shots and launched its remaining missiles. The funnels set up another web, catching most of the missiles again. Rau pulled back again, and ignited his own beam saber, slicing through the remaining missiles.

With Rau and his funnels distracted, Yzak closed the gap between him and Dearka, just as the Raider started firing its dual 52mm hyper velocity shield cannon. Yzak turned to face the menace and took aim with his beam rifle. With the sheer amount of bullets Crot was pumping out, it was inevitable that the beam rifle was hit and destroyed.

"_Yzak ..._" Dearka said.

Duel fired its head vulcans at Raider in a pathetic attempt to slow the insane pilot down.

The funnels kept up their endless barrage on Kira, who was sliding in and out of gaps to avoid the fire. Kira fired his Hi-MAT attack at Rau several times, but to no avail, the older pilot effortlessly dodged all of the beams.

Finally Kira drew both of his hip-mounted beam sabers and started deflecting beams away. There were too many to block, and one hit the starboard cannon on the METEOR, destroying it. Another funnel flew behind the Freedom and fired at one of the METEOR engines, damaging it and rocking Kira.

"_I am ... I am!_" Crot cried out, still firing his shield cannon.

"_Leave him to me!_" Yzak told Dearka.

"_Yzak!_" Dearka said alarmingly as Duel grabbed the hyper cannon from Buster.

Crot finally stopped his bullet assault and charged his mouth-mounted Scylla cannon as Yzak brought the borrowed energy cannon into play.

"_This kind of bastard!_" Yzak yelled, firing the cannon, just as Crot fired his Scylla cannon.

Raider's beam hit Duel's shoulder, damaging the armor, but mostly deflecting off. Duel's beam on the other hand, shot straight through Raider's torso, penetrating the reactor.

The Raider flew past Duel and Buster, pulling up sharply before exploding. Yzak and Dearka let out a sigh as Duel's phase shift shut down.

The funnels kept up their furious rate of fire, barely giving Kira enough to fire, if ineffectually, at Rau. Rau finally descended upon Freedom, avoiding another Hi-MAT attack and slicing through half of the starboard engine on the METEOR.

Kira caught notice of the damaged Strike Rouge heading back to the _Archangel_.

"_Kira!_" Flay called out.

"_Flay!_" Kira ejected the remains of the METEOR, grabbing his shield and rifle, and took off to help Flay.

Rau smiled and aimed at Strike Rouge and fired. Kira barely managed to block the shot, saving Flay. Unfortunately a funnel appeared behind Strike Rouge and fired through the cockpit, killing Flay and destroying the Strike Rouge in a large explosion.

"_FLAY!_" Kira screamed as Freedom was engulfed in the explosion.

Rau smiled and sighed contently, gathered his funnels and flew off towards the _Archangel_ again.

The Freedom fell out of the explosion, falling rapidly before righting itself. Kira looked up, his eyes crystallized once again in seed mode. Wings expanded, Freedom took off towards the battle at Jachin Due.

-

The _Eternal_ and _Kusangi_ closed in on the Jachin Due asteroid and the Genesis array. The defensive cannons aimed at the Orb battleship _Kusangi_.

"_Fire!_" ordered Patrick Zala.

All of the cannons and any mobile suits in the immediate vicinity fired at the _Kusangi_. Cagalli recoiled in horror as the beams were intercepted by the Justice, which was engulfed in a large explosion.

"_Athrun!_" she cried out.

The explosion cleared, and among the debris was a legless and armless Justice, floating towards the Genesis array.

"_Even if Genesis has a phase shift, it's not invulnerable!_" Bartfelt said.

"_Lohengrin, fire!_" Cagalli ordered.

Four positron blaster cannon beams and several Gottfried beams lanced out to hit the Genesis array, only to do no damage.

Lightning and Slayer opened a transmission to the _Eternal_.

"We're going to destroy the command center at Jachin." Ian said determinedly.

"_Ian, Leah!_" Lacus said worriedly.

"_Don't worry about us, we'll be fine_." Leah said and winked before ending the transmission.

They flew off just as the sensor officer reported an incoming mobile suit. Somehow Lacus knew that Rau Le Creuset was piloting it. Rau's funnels deployed and started attacking the M1 Astray mobile suits, destroying them, and damaging both the _Eternal_ and _Kusangi_.

His attack was stopped due to Kira's reappearance. The brunette Coordinator fired several times at Le Creuset, who managed to dodge in time. Rau sent his funnels after Kira, but Kira was doing a much better job of dodging without the METEOR.

"_You! Only you!_" he said angrily at Rau.

The assault continued but Kira destroyed a few funnels, reducing the amount of incoming fire.

As the fighting continued anew, Athrun regained consciousness and clutched his left arm in pain. Grabbing a bandage, he stopped the bleeding, at least for now, as he looked at the damage to the Justice.

"_I've still got some thrusters, and the Fission reactor is still in one piece._" He said. The N-Jammer Canceller and the Fission reactor gave him an idea.

Athrun entered the Genesis array through the firing opening, and managed to get inside of the massive array. He stopped just past the actual firing device, figuring that this was as good a place as any and set a timer for the self-destruct.

Ian and Leah landed inside Jachin Due, near the control center. They exited their suits and armed themselves with rifles and a few grenades. Using their thruster packs, they made their way to the control center.

Kira and Rau continued to clash, with Kira destroying funnel after funnel. Freedom got a lucky shot off, destroying Providence's left arm, which contained the shield, beam saber and a dual beam rifle. Rau quickly fired his beam rifle, destroying Freedom's right arm at the elbow and taking the Kira's beam rifle with it.

Providence fired again, destroying one of the plasma cannon mounts. Kira ejected his shield and grabbed a beam saber to combat Rau. Flipping past a funnel, Kira rotated and fire one of his railguns to destroy the funnel.

Rau fired, this time hitting Freedom on the left knee, offsetting the thruster balance. Kira destroyed one more funnel before charging towards Rau. Providence dodged and Kira combined both of his beam sabers to form a beam staff.

"_I have a world I want to protect!_" Kira yelled as he sliced off Providence's other arm.

Rau retreated, sending his remaining funnels after Kira. Kira didn't even bother to dodge, taking shot after shot to get to Rau. Freedom lost its head and one of the forward thrusters just adjacent to the cockpit before Kira rushed past the funnels and stabbed the beam staff into the torso of Providence.

"_Genesis, FIRE!_"

The words echoed just as the elevator doors opened to admit Ian and Leah onto the floor of the control center.

"Zala!" Ian yelled.

The senior Zala grabbed a gun, turned and fired at Ian, hitting him twice in the chest. Ian coughed up blood, but took aim at Patrick and fired three times, hitting Athrun's father in the heart.

The Genesis cannon started its firing sequence a few minutes before Justice was to self destruct. By the time Athrun overrode the timer and blew the fission reactor, the beam had already engulfed the Providence and Freedom.

Lacus dropped to her knees clutching her heart in pain as the tears flowed. The beam stopped short of reflecting off the mirror block thanks to the valiant efforts of Athrun. Leah set Ian gently down onto the floor, but it was too late, Ian was dead.

A general broadcast was sent out by Eileen Canaver, signaling an end to the war, and PLANTs wish to begin peace talks with the Earth Alliance and the Clyne Faction. The war was finally over, with a greater cost than anyone expected.

* * *

A/N: And that's it! Sure it seems like Tomino took over and started writing (if he got a time machine to come from his depression when he was making Zeta Gundam), but this was hybrid of the original planned ending (Gunota Headlines), the anime version (SEED tv) and an alternate Manga ending (... Tangowr posted it for me somewhere ... go ask AmuroNT1 where it is). Reviews are still welcome, and if there are any questions I'll e-mail answers to you.

* * *

Death list throughout the story:

-Earth Alliance:  
1. Tolle Koening (Chapter 7: Crimson Skies)  
2. Natarle Badgiruel (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
3. Murata Azrael (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
4. Shani Andras (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
5. Orga Sabnak (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
6. Crot Buer (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)

- ZAFT Forces:  
1. Patrick Zala (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
2. Rau Le Creuset (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)

-Clyne Faction:  
1. Flay Allster (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
2. Athrun Zala (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
3. Kira Yamato (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
4. Ian Temk (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)  
5. Mu La Flaga (Chapter 10: Apocalyptic Light Today)

I think that's all of them .... Damn you Tomino and your influential Zeta Gundam!  
I didn't include the three Astray girls because they were never mentioned at all.


End file.
